Fearless Folks … autism and beyond …

Meghan’s weekly update was interesting.  Remember how I mentioned that she had a little “cheeky” fun with the teachers during the last few weeks? Remember how she wouldn’t get out of the van; she would just lie across the seat or lie on the ground and the teachers would have to carry her away? Well [...]

The consensus is: Meghan seems much happier these days.  This is the opinion of her teachers, staff, and me, her mom!  As I mentioned before, I get updates from her contact teacher once a week.  This teacher tells me all about her week:  the good, the bad, and the ugly.  It’s like sitting down with [...]

Sometimes I think that I’m too busy or preoccupied while moving about my day, getting things done, that I become a bit too oblivious to my kids needs.  I was very much conscious of this fact when Meghan first went off to residential school, and I wanted to make sure that “both” my kids were [...]

Meghan just came home with a “Perfect Week Award”—this is number 2—so we are making good progress!!  At school she’s been better at using her communication device and books, along with some easy sign language, to let her teachers know when she’s upset about something—before she goes over the edge!  If she is upset, the [...]

You know, Meghan really knows how to work the best of them.  She has this uncanny ability to not only get attention when she wants it, but to also get right under your skin at the same time.
 
With the snowstorms and heavy rain this season, there have been fewer trips out to the stores (Walgreen’s [...]

I had trouble writing this post because it’s just tough to do.
 
I’ve mentioned this before, the plain and ugly truth, that Meghan has to have ‘Holds” at school.  Holds are necessary for her safety and the safety of the other classmates when redirecting isn’t successful.  (In case you don’t know, a hold is when they [...]

I’ve come to realize that I will never totally get used to sending Meghan off to her residential school, as we do every other Sunday at 12:00 noon.
 
I will not fool you, I still get that nervous excitement when Meghan walks through the door on those fortnightly Fridays; excited to see her, but nervous about [...]

You are probably waiting to read how the rest of Meghan’s week went after the very first day.  Well, it went well.  She was fine and had no other outbursts.  Typically when she’s home for an entire week (happens 2 to 3 times per year unless we want more time…. More?  Just another measure of [...]

When we first told Nick that Meghan was going to a new school, and that she would have to stay there overnight and come home on weekends when the time was right, he seemed to understand perfectly well. “Because Meghan breaks things all the time,” he said. I told him “well sort of” and explained [...]

Meghan’s IEP meeting went great! I’m not surprised since she is attending one of the best residential schools in the state, if not the country. It’s totally different than it would be if she were still back at our area collaborative school, which is still public, or our school system’s ASD program, which proved to [...]