Why we can’t have nice things

Well the Nintendo Wii is a wonderful thing but the boxing portion of Wii Sports is more than just good exercise. Adam seems to have gotten a little too close to the new TV and since the attachment doesn't have a strap or padded guard his vigor had sad consequences. He was totally distraught, poor guy. There was nothing to be upset about, the natural consequences were harsher than anything we could have said.

Jack enjoyed the colorful lines in front of the picture and made a bad situation much worse by pushing on the screen and ruining it until it is unreadable and won't stay turned on anymore.

Now not only do we have to figure out how to pay for a new tv but how we are going to encase it so it will last more than a few months and still be viewable!

Giant Pickle!

My sister reminded me of some of the strange things that Jack says at the strangest times.

He is by no means mute like he was when he was little but he speaks in Echolalia. That means he echoes back phrases that he has heard in the past, kind of like a parrot might. But because he is so smart he uses his echoes to communicate instead of the words he can't find.

Unfortunately you often have to watch all the shows that he watches to get his full meaning but he is getting much better at picking only the most meaningful phrase.

Funerals seem to bring out his most mischievous side. He is not fond of church; with its uncomfortable clothes, shoes, long bouts of grownups talking, etc. Funerals to Jack just seem like extra church duty with overly emotional (and therefore even less understandable) grownups.

Just this last May at my grandpa Jackson's funeral service he kept trying to shout, 'Mission completion!' It is a phrase from the end of the Little Einstein's show on Disney channel and obviously he was hoping we would all get the hint. Of course it fits my grandpa to a tee and is exactly the sort of comment I can imagine him hoping for from one of the great grandkids. So the one loud shout only brought smiles.

My grandma Glissmeyer's funeral on the other hand was a bit more embarrassing. She had struggled with Alzheimer's disease for several years and could get pretty irritated with Jack because he made no sense at all. For his part Jack loved irritating her and when she stayed at our house several evening a week he would go out of his way to wander past muttering nonsense words to see if she would tell him to stop!

Just before they closed the casket for the services and in the middle of the family prayer, Jack announced quite loudly, 'Giant Pickle'! It is part of a Veggie Tales movie that he loves and also just the sort of nonsense that would get grandma to say something stern!

Oh Brisinger!

Well the new book is out in the Inheritance cycle (it turned out that predicting it would be a trilogy was a bit premature!) I enjoy these books for the same reason I liked the Harry Potter series, the first book seems pretty typical for the genre but by the time you read the second book you realise that not only are the characters maturing but little things that seemed meaningless in the previous book are now essential to the evolving plot.

I am happy to say that I am showing self restraint and letting John and Aaron read it first. It is so nice to see them fight over a book. Aaron didn't start to enjoy reading until fourth grade and John never read anything for pleasure until he got hooked on the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. Besides I read to fast and then I have even longer to wait for the last book of the series to arrive! And as soon as they fix my internet I can post this.

http://www.alagaesia.com/books.htm

Jack

It has taken me a while to write this post. Jack is very dear to my heart but finding words to describe him can be difficult. He is just so different from the rest of this mundane world that it isn't fair to use our standards to measure him. He has very profound autism without having his intelligence affected negatively (in fact we suspect he is smarter than average but it can't be measured in any standard way). In our case he never regressed, he has been 'weird' since birth and that is the way we like him. I will never forget the time I picked him up turned toward me and he leaned in for a hug willingly and patted my back – I cried. That was almost a year after we started seeking help. He received a diagnosis of autism at the age of 2 yrs old and at the time he was mute. This is a collage I made of him when he was three.

He has made incredible progress since then and never ceases to amaze me. Socially he has progressed from the equivalent of 0 to 3 months at diagnosis to about 2 years. That is just measuring his social interactions of course; the rest is literally beyond measuring!

This summer he worked with my mom in a one on one summer school type of program. They had a blast together and she taught Jack how to draw (he hates holding anything in his hands with enough pressure to write or draw so those things have been major stumbling blocks for him).
As wonderful as that is it reminds me of the time his occupational therapist taught him how to take off his shoes. She warned me that I was going to hate it but that someone his age should be able to remove their shoes. His shoes haven't stayed on his feet since. Now that Jack can draw he has been attacking the walls with a vengeance, after all he has years of catching up to do!

Also, the picture of Elmo and Big Bird hanging out in the Shower caddy is Jack's handywork. We think of them as random Jack-a-stacks, turn the corner and you are likely to find something arranged in an intriguing way!

Hannah

Well it is Hannah's turn and she will be so thrilled to see herself on my 'web site'! With Hannah a picture really does say a thousand words.

She is very girly and loves to be beautiful and to dress up like a princess…

…but she is also a tomboy and just as happy to roll in dirt and play dinosaurs with the boys.

Not that you can't do those things dressed like a princess of course!

She is sweet and caring but her mind and body are equaly active so she has a tendancy to flit around (she has been known to catch flying moths because they seem to move about in the same unpredictable way).

My favorite story about this was just after my Gandfather's funeral. We had gone back to visit the gravesite with my mother. My mom looked over to see Hannah with big tears rolling down her face. When she leanded down to Hannah, Hannah said, "Don't worry Grandma, I'm just sad be cause he was a nice grandpa and now he is under the dirt."

My mom hugged her and started to tell her that she didn't need to worry because he wasn't realy under the dirt when Hannah interupted her and said cheerfully, "Can I go play now?" At least she doesn't have the attention span for the sad stuff either!

Connor

I thought I would do a little highlight of each of my kids, starting with the youngest.

Connor is a cute little toad who loves to do anything he isn't supposed to do. He is thrilled that as the youngest there are always other kids to entertain him and bow to his slightest command. He is quiet and careful by nature but loves to watch all the wild crazies!

Connor has carved out his own little spot in our house and loves his routine but he is a homebody who has trouble staying comfortable for long anywhere else.

Music is Connor's big thing; he has a good sense of rhythm like all the others but he is fascinated by all kinds of music. It started with bluegrass and rock and roll but has moved to include everything from classical to silly kids' songs.

I’m Back!

Well I got my peaceful naptimes back so I can actually start posting again. With summer over everybody is back in school but the babies and they are willing to take an afternoon nap. Hannah is in kindergarten and since she is a morning person I recommended afternoon kindergarten for her so she would be as calm as possible!