Author: criscollrj

autism, chris, college, residency, transcription, travel

Completely overwhelmed, but still soothed by nature’s glory

criscollrj


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criscollrj

I’ve noticed that nature greatly soothes me as well as prayer. And also just being with family and laughing.

But things are crazy, and I just have never any time for blogging, etc. I often think lately that I’d just like to totally quit working so I can catch up on pretty much everything and spend more time just hanging out with my kids and hubby. But I love my work, and right now it’s necessary. So I continue to get up at 3 to type and have toothpicks holding my eyes open most of the day —

  • 97 minutes to get out, proofed, by tonight – I have 6 minutes done – so why am I here? I’ll be quick!
  • Chris is officially discharged from his group home Oct. 1. However, they’re still keeping him while they look for more homes for him. I believe he’ll be home here and G & C along with us will share his care.
  • Chris’s school is going very well and they have him in a new language program that is helping him a lot!
  • We are unable to get Chris’s waiver yet as there’s still a huge huge wait list – like 15 more years maybe.
  • Ryan has a new teacher this year as well as a new autism coordinator in his school. He is doing well but won’t eat lunch or wear his hearing aides – sigh. Sunchips are my friend . . .
  • Colleen is working hard at school and enjoys times with her friends –
  • They’re all growing up so fast.
  • I am seriously seriously considering going back to school in the spring to become a speech therapist, and need to apply for my financial aid. This of course means a little cut in my work but I need to try.
  • We’re going back to the Maryland mountains Tuesday as part of our business trip and I’m going to meet my good friend Pat from a transcription board I’m on!

 

preparation, residency, waivers

Looking down the road

criscollrj

(2020, added this about waivers, from my communication course in 2013.  https://youtu.be/Ab947nZWlLE

I know that everyone with an autistic child, whether or not they have mild autism, severe autism, or autism spectrum along with another disability such as bipolar, deafness, blindness, or something completely different, doesn’t know what they will expect as their child (children) grow older. It is almost too overwhelming to look at as everyday you are working with your children to make them the best that they can be, along with still mourning what you wish they could be.

In approximately 1996 when Chris would have been 5 or 6, our county MRDD workers stood in our kitchen as they evaluated Chris for special needs services as an elementary school child. This was heartbreaking to me anyway, just facing that Chris would be attending special needs classes and having services for someone with a disability. We didn’t even want to face that even though he’d been diagnosed with autism for 2 years.

As the workers spoke with us, they said, it is good to get your child on a waiver, or more than one, as you never know what the future will bring. They described these as one) a waiver on which he could get adult services in his own home and two) a waiver on which he would be placed in a home for special needs people as an adult. I don’t remember if he was on any other waivers.

We did sign up for these waivers, hoping we’d never need them. However, in 2008 we did have Chris go to a group home, as a 17 year old. This is more described in my other personal blog and I’m sure I will bring it up again here, as things are still unfolding in that area that we don’t know the results of.  (2020 – again, the original web site address of this autism blog are unknown and all posts have been imported into my personal blog…)

Two lessons here, though, I would say to always sign up for the waivers when your child is young. You can always so no later. It’s never permanent either — we said no to the residency waiver 5 or so times as his name came up, from age 13 to 17. The 6th time we said yes, and he’s been in a very caring group home for a year now.

His I/O waiver listing was messed up. In 2002 I called to see where he was on the list — he WASN’T ON THE LIST. They told me he was on in 1996 and never put him on. We don’t know to this day what the six years lost would have done. Maybe he could have already had an I/O waiver and had someone in the home to help him already. We’ll never know. Now we are awaiting the I/O waiver in earnest, as he may be coming home from the group home as he is yelling too much and not sleeping.

So another lesson, in addition to signing up for the waivers early, also CALL every year or so and make sure they’re still on the list and where they are on the list.

More soon.

(2020 – adding this.  It is important.  https://youtu.be/Ab947nZWlLE

Yes I added link again!  Watch it!  I will try and update at some point probably by a text post, as to what kind of changes have taken place in the last 6 years.

introduction autism deafness

A blank slate

criscollrj

(2020 – another blog I’d started, imported into this one.  I’ll just leave as is, but the explanatory info is that I was going to have a separate autism blog, but did not continue.  Thus, its context here.  The original is unknown.  I started an educational autism blog after this which is here https://autism-teach2learn.blogspot.com/ with 2 lively posts!  But can’t find the origin of this one.  Here it will stand…. the first post in my autism blog from 2009.  I also have no idea right now how to fix the font.

 

 

After typing into my personal blog, at its 3rd home right now at blog (2020 – used that site for a year or so) , I am a bit stymied attempting to begin this new blog that has been on my mind for a while now. Technical details like WHERE do I want to house the blog, and what to call it, have interrupted my just BEGINNING the blog, which I’m attempting to do now.

My purpose in this sharing endeavor, to become a better resource and help to those of you out there watching your children with autism and other disabilities learn much of what I have learned, but hopefully faster, and perhaps to share with me things you have learned faster than I have. We also have co-morbidities (that’s such a terrible name, isn’t it?) in our different ability’d children. Due to my dad apparently having an inheritable deafness gene, our Christopher is totally deaf (found out when he was 15; he’s now 18) and Ryan is partially deaf at age 7. I also have a slight hearing loss.

At this moment I’ll simply direct you to this resource page: http://criscollrjblog.wordpress.com/autism/, but I have to confess that is out of date; I will most likely be updating that and moving that onto this site.

(2020 – most current autism resource page is here, but is still out of date. http://criscollrj.com/autism/)

travel

The Western Maryland Mountains–

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Originally uploaded by criscollrj

The new header I made (first one on WordPress.com!) is of the Maryland Mountains we saw on our business trip in early July. I know I “facebooked” about it in the pictures on there, but never typed on here. Then I found out a friend of mine from the transcription board lives RIGHT there at Deep Creek Lake. We’re going to meet the next time we go out there.

Deep Creek Lake

Then I saw another friend on Facebook had just seen the Backbone Mountain in Maryland near that area and had beautiful pictures of it as well. It’s so neat that such beautiful mountains are so close to our business trip area (we did travel a few hours East in the evening to get there, but it was so worth it!)

And check it out, googling for images, and there’s a lot for sale!

What a beautiful lot! Wish we had the $$!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

health, residency, transcription, work

Almost August and I haven’t even been swimming yet!

criscollrj


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Originally uploaded by criscollrj

We took this back in June when we did take Colleen & her friend to the beach for a while. We haven’t been back. I didn’t go in that day and neither did Ryan — Ryan has been afraid of the “different” lake water and this is the closest he’s ever been to it! It was the first time he ever played in the sand.

So we’re hoping to possibly go Saturday — it’s supposed to be 83 and sunny so I think it sounds like a good day for a picnic lunch! We’re also taking Ryan to the free screening of Veggie Tales in our area.

After working 4-5 weeks at the office and most of the time blending that with transcription fairly seamlessly, this week got fairly rough! I decided in the future I will either work at one job or the other and not try and combine them. Of course that will involve having plenty of notice for the out-of-the home job — I imagine it will be a few months now before they call me in again. I love working there though — it’s like family (worked there before 88-94 & again 02-03).

I FINALLY got some sleep last night and have one more day of work today– if I have time at work I’ll start some of my transcription due next week but at least it’s thankfully not something due today! I also am working on sorting all the papers that have stacked up the last 6 weeks or so.

Got Chris’s guardianship and trust papers all done and am in the middle of filing them. These are papers we had to do with his becoming an adult. He may be coming home soon — we’ll find out for sure on Tuesday. I am very nervous about this but have to have faith, and know that 99% sure he will now get 24-hour care with his being discharged. Our eventual family goal with Rog’s parents is to have our own small group home for him and some other individuals.

Please stay in prayer for Rog’s dad who has been very ill, and doctors are still doing tests to see what is wrong.

 

life, Ryan, weight

progressing —

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Originally uploaded by criscollrj

Wow, June 18th already. AND one month, one day on Weigh Down/Thin Within. I WILL DO THIS.

And we’re almost done with Colleen’s summer school and about to start Chris’s. I’ll be transporting in the morning and Gayle in the afternoon, bless her.

The only time we won’t be transporting children one place or another is the 3rd week of August, I believe.

Finally got our new checking account open – one of those open this and you get $100 free!! accounts – and I’m so relieved! Now everyone can say FINALLY Dorene will stop talking about how we have to get that DANGED CHECKING ACCOUNT open lol!!!!! It’s done. Now I have to get the new direct deposit form faxed in which I’m going to do right now.

And my thanks again to a certain angel to made it possible to do this today, on my husband’s only day available to do it, before the coupon expired for the account 😀

Ryan’s having a good time on his break – making sleep forts like this, playing with his Leapster, running around. His aide has also been taking him outside to play while I’m working.

 

life, Thin within

Summer —

criscollrj


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Originally uploaded by

criscollrj

Another summer has sprang its way into my life. It always comes faster every year than I expect.

Colleen has had her anime convention and had a great time (more pics in flickr). We also took Chris out on Saturday and we all went to the buffet. I’ll be taking him to summer school every morning soon for about 4-5 weeks — It’ll be nice to see him every morning!

Ryan’s aide is coming every day for 2 4-hour shifts so I’ll have a good amount of time to work still. That will be helpful.

Rog and I are planning to go away again for business early July — that is always a busy yet fun time doing something different than just typing transcription. Though last time I worked with Rog and did transcription at the same time at night THAT WAS NOT FUN. ZZZZZZ.

Well, laundry and dishes await as well as two new jobs to start…

Hopefully sometime I’ll get a little more creative than this — lol

OH, I’ve lost 5 pounds!!!

AND sometimes I really do miss all the flexibility of themes in WordPress.org – but this is NOT BAD 😀

(2020, for a while in 2009-2010 I did my blog in wordpress.com, as I didn’t have my own domain.  It is here still….  https://criscollrjblog.wordpress.com/

weight

Weighing my options.. literally

criscollrj

A year ago I typed this —

Thin within

but I never did anything seriously about it. I am THROUGH GOD’S help starting again today. I will eat only when really hungry and just eat a small portion, brushing my teeth between meals. If I’m going to have the energy I need to deal with everything in our lives right now, I have to get this weight off. And I need to start exercising more. I am walking every day for 10 minutes (weekdays, after Ryan gets on the bus) but that’s not enough.

 

autism, life

Reference to autism on 90210 last night—

criscollrj

Something Ethan said on 90210 last night made me think. He was in the woods with a friend and just talking. He said this:

Ethan: “People think I’m someone different than I am.”

Friend, Liam: “Let me ask you something, why do you smile?”

Ethan: “I smile because I don’t want to cause trouble for anyone. I don’t want to make anyone’s life harder. Not my teachers, not my coaches, definitely not my parents. My brother’s autistic, so they need me to be easy, not make any waves. I don’t want to cause any conflicts so I just pretend like I’m fine. Even when I’m not.”

That really got me thinking. That is exactly the way I am…