I'm in ASD overload

As you know I have recently started studying Education Support. I have completed 3 of 15 subjects so far, one of which was Provide Support to Students with ASD. While I was studying it, I felt uncomfortable. I was upset and I cried. There's a difference between intellectually knowing the stuff and getting it drummed into you the deficits that go with an ASD diagnosis.

It's been 7 years and 8 months since Boy Childs diagnosis. The weird thing is that I remember the exact date we got the report. Maybe that's because I have had to look at the report ocassionally for various reasons. It seems that date is burned into my brain.

Last night I watched the Four Corners episode The Autism Enigma. I found the episode interesting but it really didn't depict how ASD has affected Boy Child so I felt a bit removed from it.

Today I attended a workshop which we were advised to attend, as it would help us in our studies and work in Education Support. It was about making education successful for students with ASD. If last night I felt removed, then today was (as my classes had been) a wake up call. Once again, I'm second guessing the choices we made so long ago, being frustrated by the lack of support we had and hoping that those choices haven't screwed Boy Child up, at least not too much.

The thing is he is happy with who he is. He doesn't think that any additional help would have made much (if any) difference to him. I hope that he is right. But for now, I really would like to just bury my head in the sand. Maybe next week I can go back to thinking of Boy just as Boy without worrying about his ASD because it is a part of who he is. His ASD doesn't define him.

I know and I'm grateful that my brain works and other stuff

Dorothy from Singulair Insanity knows lots of things this week. Things about winter and wind among other things. I discovered I know things, too.

I feel a bit out of the loop at the moment so I'm joining up with Maxabella's gratefuls as well. Some may call that cheating, I call it making the best use of my time.

I know that my brain works.

After working at home for 7 years (I had been on committees etc up until last year) I wasn't sure I could use my brain anymore for new things and sometimes even things that i'd done for years. For a most of last year and some of this year, I couldn't recall things that I had previously been able to and I sometimes lost the words I needed. I was not sure that I could actually get new information in there or access it again once it was stored. I'm very happy because it turns out I can.

My brain working is something to be very grateful for. Apparently my brain works so well that I have had 3 separate people come to me in class to read over and help them with their assignments. Of course that could just be related to my winning personality!

I know that home made ice cream cake is yummy.

Better yet, I made it myself. Well the easy version, anyway. I made a three layer ice cream cake using 4 litres of ice cream, some strawberries, marshmallows, chocolate and sprinkles. It was a big hit and very tasty.

Girl Child can ride a bike.


Back in April she decided that this year for her birthday she wanted a bike. So once then she has been intermittently learning to ride a bike. First by getting her balance on Boy Childs old bike which was turned into a balance bike. She took a while to get comfortable with balancing and steering but she kept at it. Last weekend we put the pedals and chain back on. She now can pedal and steer. While she can't go too far or fast as yet we are very proud of her. She's decided she would like the bike for Christmas now so she has a few more months to practice. I'm grateful that she is happily a least once or twice a week and that she has only crashed once.


We had our splashback installed. The splashback is blue and goes really well with the stainless steel appliances and cream cupboards. While it is a huge change, it looks great. What do you think?

So that's it for me today. I'm grateful and I know things. Not too bad for a Sunday afternoon really.

I'm a Student!

In my last post I was tossing up whether I should enrol in a Certificate IV in Education Support as a Full time or Part time student. I had 48 hours to decide and I was worried about the work load and the effect on my family.

I'm not sure that 48 hours was enough time but I have bitten the bullet and am now a full time student. Thankfully, the full time load doesn't seem to be too arduous at least at the moment. I have to attend 3 days a week for this semester (so Terms 3 and 4) and get a first aid certificate in my own time. During Term 4 i will also have to spend 60 hours practical work experience in a school following an LSA around and at some point get observed by one of my teachers.

I need to nominate 3 schools for my teacher to contact and tee up my practical work experience. I'm tossing up where I want to do my contact hours. Should I go to Girl Child's school, where I already help out (although on a smaller scale for the rest of the year), somewhere else so if I do well I can get my name out there? Do I want to focus on a Learning Support Unit, or Learning Support Centre (Units have students part time whereas Centres are full time), or a school with an Autism specific Centre? Then there's the special schools as well.

Because I missed the first week and a bit, I missed 8 classes that i have to catch up on. As well I have assignments. Thankfully, there aren't many of them.

How's the family taking me studying? Mr E. is sending me to bed early and offering to cook more frequently - both of which are great. Boy Child? Well my week of studying hasn't really affected him so far. Not that I really expected it too. Girl Child? Well, she has always been quite emotional. She is more emotional than usual. She has offered to help with my homework and has made a chart of what activities we (the family) should be doing and when. I think my studying will effect her the most. I need to ensure that we spend some quality time together.

Wish me luck!