I asked him if I could have his new e-mail address too, and this is what he said, “Mom, I am too tired to give you my e-mail address, it’s just too much.” Multitasking is my middle name, so I wanted to say you must be kidding just tell me the e-mail address, but instead I remained silent. I have found that silence works well, especially when you don’t have anything nice to say. I then realized what it took for him to do all these things he told me about. In the past, he would not have been able to do any of them and now he accomplished several things in one day. I then was able to say why don’t you give me your e-mail address another day. I am so proud of everything you were able to accomplish today, and you did it all by yourself. How fantastic!

You could tell on the other end of the phone that he was quite pleased with my response, and with himself. Yesterday was a huge break through day for Brandon, being able to handle and complete all these tasks.

"He doesn't come to class prepared."

"We put the material on the board, but he doesn't write it in his planner"

"If I let him off too easily how will he learn?"

And my personal favorite:

"Why won't he tell us when he needs a break."

It doesn't seem to matter how much literature they're given, how many meeting we have, how many tests they're shown, the result is eerily familiar.  Heads nod with understanding, I see's are uttered, but -- and this is a big but --in the end.the mindset remains the same.  When push comes to shove, the expectation is that these kids on the spectrum -- who appear so normal to the naked eye -- should be able to do what those around them do.  If not, it is often seen as a matter of willfulness, of manipulation or just being downright lazy.

How can I say this?  Easy.  Phrases like "he's digging his heels in", "he could do it when he wants to" or "he's just not trying" are dead give-aways.  They reveal the lack of understanding that my child's problem is based in neurology, in wiring -- and not in conscious choice.More Here...

Yesterday was another difficult day for homework. I don't know what makes some days easy and some days hard. During one of Jonathan's times in his room to "calm down" from a meltdown, it got quite for a long period of time. I called up from the bottom of the stairs. His bedroom door was closed which is unusual.

"Jonathan are you starting on your homework?"
"No. I'm writing a letter."

He came down to the kitchen about five minutes later and handed me a scrap piece of paper folded up into a cross between a paper airplane and a cootie catcher.

"Is this to me?'
"No it is to my teacher."

I unfolded it and read:   More Here...

Lucky for Logan, supermom aka me , was there to help him work through the intricacies of that situation. It was a real eye opener in that even though we have come so far, there is still a long way to go. One of my wishes for Logan is to have long term friends. Clearly, we need to continue to work on social skills.

A little while after the conversation fiasco, Logan was waiting in line behind me as I ordered lunch. He was talking to Michael aka Dad just fine. The conversation went back and forth well. I must admit that I only halfhearted listening as they were talking about Halo,a video game. Since I don't play video games , I was not interested. Several minutes later, Michael told me at the table that Logan had tapped him on the shoulder twice while they were talking.