For a project at school tomorrow...
My favorite part: "...a *colonial* in the Philadelphia militia" pronounced phonetically. :)
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Pictures from the Autism Walk
Here's our Walk group.
Isaak "won" the hot potato game with Radio Disney and got a DVD as a prize (can't remember what movie, maybe Underdog? We haven't seen it yet). He looks so serious! This is serious business, I suppose!
One of "my" darlings.
I like railroad tracks.
Isaak thought this clown was absolutely hilarious. His favorite part he wrote about on his blog entry, I think, about the clown saying "thank you, thank you" around the group of kids and when he got to Isaak, he said, "spank you" and just kept going. Isaak still talks about that roaring with laughter.
It was a great day! Thanks to everyone who participated financially or in spirit. The whole Walk was a huge success!
Isaak "won" the hot potato game with Radio Disney and got a DVD as a prize (can't remember what movie, maybe Underdog? We haven't seen it yet). He looks so serious! This is serious business, I suppose!
One of "my" darlings.
I like railroad tracks.
Isaak thought this clown was absolutely hilarious. His favorite part he wrote about on his blog entry, I think, about the clown saying "thank you, thank you" around the group of kids and when he got to Isaak, he said, "spank you" and just kept going. Isaak still talks about that roaring with laughter.
It was a great day! Thanks to everyone who participated financially or in spirit. The whole Walk was a huge success!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Isaak's Essay
Isaak wrote an "essay" for a contest to throw out the first pitch at Autism Awareness night with the Mariners in a couple weeks. This is what he wrote (no direction or editing by anyone):
Well, to me, autism is a social disorder that affects my senses slightly. Sometimes when someone asks me a question, I sometimes not listen to the question and say, “Wha…?” I can see pretty well, though, but sometimes, probably because of the pills my doctor has asked me to take, my vision gets all blurry and weird. My skin is sensitive, and I actually don’t like sweets such as chocolate. I even threw up in a café that got burned down later. I think it was because of customer satisfaction.
But autism didn’t affect just that. Sometimes when things don’t go my way, I get all stressed out keep convincing people to change. But I’m sure that this isn’t that important. Speaking of important, I think some things are more important than others. Sometimes I get a little curious and play with some things. One time when I was little, I shoved a penny up my nose! I might get a little nervous if I would throw the First Pitch or some other big event because I could mess up something like that.
But overall, I think autism was just a particular gift that gave me a challenge in life. Maybe I’m just born with the talent. Maybe, just maybe, I’m a powerful kind of guy who, in the future, can show why that we need just some attention. Maybe we just want respect from others. Maybe we could just stand up for ourselves and just be a true nation with different talents and stuff. After all, we’re just ourselves, that’s all.
How Autism Affects Me
By Isaak Jensen
For the Autism Awareness Night at Safeco Field Contest (or whatever it is)
By Isaak Jensen
For the Autism Awareness Night at Safeco Field Contest (or whatever it is)
Well, to me, autism is a social disorder that affects my senses slightly. Sometimes when someone asks me a question, I sometimes not listen to the question and say, “Wha…?” I can see pretty well, though, but sometimes, probably because of the pills my doctor has asked me to take, my vision gets all blurry and weird. My skin is sensitive, and I actually don’t like sweets such as chocolate. I even threw up in a café that got burned down later. I think it was because of customer satisfaction.
But autism didn’t affect just that. Sometimes when things don’t go my way, I get all stressed out keep convincing people to change. But I’m sure that this isn’t that important. Speaking of important, I think some things are more important than others. Sometimes I get a little curious and play with some things. One time when I was little, I shoved a penny up my nose! I might get a little nervous if I would throw the First Pitch or some other big event because I could mess up something like that.
But overall, I think autism was just a particular gift that gave me a challenge in life. Maybe I’m just born with the talent. Maybe, just maybe, I’m a powerful kind of guy who, in the future, can show why that we need just some attention. Maybe we just want respect from others. Maybe we could just stand up for ourselves and just be a true nation with different talents and stuff. After all, we’re just ourselves, that’s all.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Mathmathmathmathmathmathmath
So, Isaak has not had a full math curriculum this year due to him "going through" every other option the district had in the way of self-paced programs (as opposed to in a classroom). He finished their Algebra and Geometry "credit recovery" programs by October, I believe. So, the district math coach had been just designing some extra work for him to do. I think much of which has been WASL-prep problem solving work. They did have him take the 10th grade math WASL (as a practice) to see how he'd do, and he did pass it, but I think they still want him to work on improving his problem solving techniques.
Anyway, he'd had consistently good daily reports from school for weeks, and then I got three days in a row where he'd gotten "stressed" during his math time. It was something about them asking him to revise his work or that he wasn't understanding a problem and was refusing help. I told them to just send the problems home and let me look at them.
First problem; he'd just didn't complete the question they were asking by giving direct evidence from the problem or something. He was a little irritable with me (had obviously caused him stress at school), but he quickly got over it when I just showed him what he was missing. He went and did it, no problem.
The second problem was this:
"Jay earns $16.42 per hour. He earns 1.5 times his hourly wage for every hour he works over 40 hours each week. He earns 2 times his hourly wage on Sunday. Jay worked 3 hours on Sunday and earned a total of $903.10 for the week. How many total hours did Jay work last week? Show your work using words, numbers, and/or diagrams.
His formula to figure it out was this:
It's hard to see, but it's basically if h<=40, $98.52 + $16.42h = $903.10 h = 49 hours then the next line, if h>40, $98.52+$24.63h=$903.10 x 1.5h = 49 hours
His answer: 49 hours
The comment on the paper from school was, "Need to see calculations more clearly."
I could not follow his logic, even when he explained it. And he was obviously getting irritated with me for not "getting it." So, I asked him if he knew the answer was right. "I don't know, they haven't told me yet."
I turned the paper over and went to figuring it out, myself. Took me many steps and Isaak sitting next to me as my "calculator."
Eventually, I did figure out that the answer was 49 hours, just what he had figure out with his complicated, but succinct formula. So, my question is this. Is the request for more clear calculation the basis of his horrible handwriting (I don't think so) or the request for solving the problem in such a way as the examiner is able to understand, regardless of the fact that he did use correct math calculations and formulas and showed his thinking in that manner?
I don't fault the teacher/aide with the request to show his thinking better. The fact is that he thinks at a very high level and the way in which he arrives at answers do not necessarily follow prevailing logic for the rest of us. Does it have to? And it's not just an issue with this particular problem. If it were, I'd just have him add some steps so they could see or clarify his handwriting or something. But, I think this is going to be a systemic problem. He thinks in an unusual mathematical manner and it may take people who really understand deep mathematical thinking to relate to him and understand him. Meanwhile, he is frustrated because, in his mind, he did show his thinking, there were clear calculations, and he got the right answer.
So, I understand his frustration, and, like I said, I don't fault the teachers as this is an unusual situation. However, we do need to find a solution so he can continue to flourish in his crazy math fantasy world in his head. I don't want him to lose that spark because the people around him don't understand him and expect him to think the way they do.
I do really detest the WASL and such problem solving requirements.
Anyway, he'd had consistently good daily reports from school for weeks, and then I got three days in a row where he'd gotten "stressed" during his math time. It was something about them asking him to revise his work or that he wasn't understanding a problem and was refusing help. I told them to just send the problems home and let me look at them.
First problem; he'd just didn't complete the question they were asking by giving direct evidence from the problem or something. He was a little irritable with me (had obviously caused him stress at school), but he quickly got over it when I just showed him what he was missing. He went and did it, no problem.
The second problem was this:
"Jay earns $16.42 per hour. He earns 1.5 times his hourly wage for every hour he works over 40 hours each week. He earns 2 times his hourly wage on Sunday. Jay worked 3 hours on Sunday and earned a total of $903.10 for the week. How many total hours did Jay work last week? Show your work using words, numbers, and/or diagrams.
His formula to figure it out was this:
It's hard to see, but it's basically if h<=40, $98.52 + $16.42h = $903.10 h = 49 hours then the next line, if h>40, $98.52+$24.63h=$903.10 x 1.5h = 49 hours
His answer: 49 hours
The comment on the paper from school was, "Need to see calculations more clearly."
I could not follow his logic, even when he explained it. And he was obviously getting irritated with me for not "getting it." So, I asked him if he knew the answer was right. "I don't know, they haven't told me yet."
I turned the paper over and went to figuring it out, myself. Took me many steps and Isaak sitting next to me as my "calculator."
Eventually, I did figure out that the answer was 49 hours, just what he had figure out with his complicated, but succinct formula. So, my question is this. Is the request for more clear calculation the basis of his horrible handwriting (I don't think so) or the request for solving the problem in such a way as the examiner is able to understand, regardless of the fact that he did use correct math calculations and formulas and showed his thinking in that manner?
I don't fault the teacher/aide with the request to show his thinking better. The fact is that he thinks at a very high level and the way in which he arrives at answers do not necessarily follow prevailing logic for the rest of us. Does it have to? And it's not just an issue with this particular problem. If it were, I'd just have him add some steps so they could see or clarify his handwriting or something. But, I think this is going to be a systemic problem. He thinks in an unusual mathematical manner and it may take people who really understand deep mathematical thinking to relate to him and understand him. Meanwhile, he is frustrated because, in his mind, he did show his thinking, there were clear calculations, and he got the right answer.
So, I understand his frustration, and, like I said, I don't fault the teachers as this is an unusual situation. However, we do need to find a solution so he can continue to flourish in his crazy math fantasy world in his head. I don't want him to lose that spark because the people around him don't understand him and expect him to think the way they do.
I do really detest the WASL and such problem solving requirements.
American Idol--The Final 6
K, so I think David Archuleta stole the show. I did like David Cook, but I guess I expected more--something more original or "earth shattering." I was a little disappointed. I was very sad that Brooke had another poopy week. She is SO talented, but with two bad weeks, I think she's very much "at risk". I think it will be her, Carly, or Jason to go home.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Audra Jr 4/13/08 Blog
Hello. I haven't done a blog in quite a while. And I really need to, so I'm doing it. I started Karate. It is fun. I learned that the best self-defense is your mind and only use Karate when you are scared, not when you are mad (not like my brother). My mom's birthday just passed. I got her a thing that goes around her neck when she's tired and she's not in her bed. My brother got her a thing that scratches her back.
Today I went to Oaks Park to do the Walk-a-Thon. Mom and I joked that it should be the Walk-a-THONG with everyone in their underwear. That was really funny. Now, that's all I need to say for this blog.
Bye.
Today I went to Oaks Park to do the Walk-a-Thon. Mom and I joked that it should be the Walk-a-THONG with everyone in their underwear. That was really funny. Now, that's all I need to say for this blog.
Bye.
Isaak 4/13/08 The Autism Walk
(Note: This is actually for Isaak's blog, not for this blog. We couldn't figure out how to get to his blog.)
Today we had something special on our time besides stake conference. (Actually, the Vancouver Ward Children's Choir sang "A Child's Prayer" during the adult session of stake conference, and I was there.) We had something called an autism walk in Oaks Amusement park. There were fun things there.
At first we had to wait in a line. The line was long, but we got moved to a shorter line. And guess what! Mom let us go see Radio Disney, who came here to visit! I got invited to a Radio Disney game. We had to pass a High School Musical Ball all over against 10 people. It's kind of like Hot Potato. At first it was kind of easy, but my sister got out in 7th place. Fortunately, I stayed in for quite a bit. I even was in the final 2! For that, I won Phineas & Ferb Stickers. Then the music stopped, and I WON!! I was so excited; I got the Underdog DVD!
Then came the autism walk. It was a mile long. There were some Autism fun facts along the way. They told us that in Oregon, the chance of having an autistic child is about 1 to 88; compare that to the national average of 1 to 150! We were also cheered on by some teenage girls that we past by. The final sign said, "Thank you for participating in the 6th Annual Autism Walk", at least that's what it least said.
One of my favorites is that we found a clown! He showed us some tricks that he had up his sleeve. He was going to show us a ball and there was none! He tried it 3 times, but then the fourth time he had 2 balls! Then again the fifth time he showed 3 balls! Quite impressive little cookie he was. One time he blew a balloon, then tried to have it bent, but then worked. But when he got some kind of magic thing, he tried to bend it, but it broke in half. Oh, and when he was going to do it at first, the air went out when he wasn't looking. When he had another balloon let go, and I mean "let go", it got twisted in two fingers, then one finger. When he let go, his glove got off! When he left, he said thank you to two kids, and SPANK you to me! How humilating!
Overall, the walk was really good! I'm looking forward to next year's!
Today we had something special on our time besides stake conference. (Actually, the Vancouver Ward Children's Choir sang "A Child's Prayer" during the adult session of stake conference, and I was there.) We had something called an autism walk in Oaks Amusement park. There were fun things there.
At first we had to wait in a line. The line was long, but we got moved to a shorter line. And guess what! Mom let us go see Radio Disney, who came here to visit! I got invited to a Radio Disney game. We had to pass a High School Musical Ball all over against 10 people. It's kind of like Hot Potato. At first it was kind of easy, but my sister got out in 7th place. Fortunately, I stayed in for quite a bit. I even was in the final 2! For that, I won Phineas & Ferb Stickers. Then the music stopped, and I WON!! I was so excited; I got the Underdog DVD!
Then came the autism walk. It was a mile long. There were some Autism fun facts along the way. They told us that in Oregon, the chance of having an autistic child is about 1 to 88; compare that to the national average of 1 to 150! We were also cheered on by some teenage girls that we past by. The final sign said, "Thank you for participating in the 6th Annual Autism Walk", at least that's what it least said.
One of my favorites is that we found a clown! He showed us some tricks that he had up his sleeve. He was going to show us a ball and there was none! He tried it 3 times, but then the fourth time he had 2 balls! Then again the fifth time he showed 3 balls! Quite impressive little cookie he was. One time he blew a balloon, then tried to have it bent, but then worked. But when he got some kind of magic thing, he tried to bend it, but it broke in half. Oh, and when he was going to do it at first, the air went out when he wasn't looking. When he had another balloon let go, and I mean "let go", it got twisted in two fingers, then one finger. When he let go, his glove got off! When he left, he said thank you to two kids, and SPANK you to me! How humilating!
Overall, the walk was really good! I'm looking forward to next year's!
Audra 4/13/08
Moved blogs again. I think the kids have the same one. It's been so long since I've updated that I've forgotten everything!
It's been a crazy year so far! I'm still working at school part-time, and just last week I came across an office for my private consulting work that was perfect for what I wanted, so I snatched it up. So, I have an official "office" space and a monthly lease to go with it. It's great, though. All my "junk" is out of the house (mostly), and I have room in the office to romp around with the kids much better. Current area in the house will be turned into a real guest room (eventually when we can afford some furniture).
Dave is enjoying his work. We enjoy his stories. We were to meet him for work last night, and he called right as we got to the restaurant and he said he'd just been called off, so to go ahead without him. Right at that moment, there was a cop car behind me with lights and sirens blazing, so I figured he was just playing with us. Kids thought it was great. I'm thinking, "What a dork!" and I slowed down and even tapped my breaks just to play with him. Well, come to find out, he really WAS called off and it WASN'T him behind us! Ack! Sorry Mr. Officer-sir. :P
Isaak is doing SO well this year. We figured out a nice combination of medication that really helps him, and he's just maturing. Things that would previously have really "gotten" him, he's just letting slide off his back. He's so much easier to reason with and is more cooperative than ever. It's great! The best thing is that he's getting his own little group of friends that WE are not arranging for him! With that, though, comes some real emotional conflicts. He, for the first time, experienced a real sense of disappointment from people (as opposed to a game or activity he couldn't do). Some friends were getting together to have a Pokemon battle, and one friend said he'd pick him up or something since Isaak didn't know where it was. Well, I didn't know anything about it until that day, almost at the minute he was supposed to come. And, he didn't come. So, Isaak sat and waited anxiously, only to be disappointed that it didn't happen. We didn't have the guy's phone number to figure out what the story was, so I couldn't help him. I just had to assure him that it was OK and probably just a miscommunication and it wouldn't be the last time. But, to see those real tears and that true emotional pain was quite something. It was so NORMAL.
Little Audra is a doll. She's had a good year. She's not a huge fan of school, but she's a hard worker and a sweet girl. I told her this summer I'd hire her to come and be a "helper" in the clinic. She can start learning the work I do, and I think she'll be great at it. She's really excited to do that. She also wants to paint a picture for the new office.
We did the local Autism Society (of Oregon) Autism Walk-a-Thon today. So many people! The last walk we did was probably 5-7 years ago in Seattle. There weren't nearly as many people. I think the word is out. There was a statistic written on the path that said that Oregon has a rate of 1 in 88 (national is 1 in 150). Don't know how they're tracking their data, but if that's accurate, whoa! Anyway, it was a nice day. I know there's a lot of talk about the cause of autism right now, lots of people debating this or that. I wish I knew (I always get asked), but I can't worry about that. My fight, my focus, has to be intervention. I'll let the other people do the research and figure it all out. Hopefully, with events like this and more prominent people coming out of the woodworks, someone will figure it out.
Until next time (hopefully not another 9 months)!
Audra
It's been a crazy year so far! I'm still working at school part-time, and just last week I came across an office for my private consulting work that was perfect for what I wanted, so I snatched it up. So, I have an official "office" space and a monthly lease to go with it. It's great, though. All my "junk" is out of the house (mostly), and I have room in the office to romp around with the kids much better. Current area in the house will be turned into a real guest room (eventually when we can afford some furniture).
Dave is enjoying his work. We enjoy his stories. We were to meet him for work last night, and he called right as we got to the restaurant and he said he'd just been called off, so to go ahead without him. Right at that moment, there was a cop car behind me with lights and sirens blazing, so I figured he was just playing with us. Kids thought it was great. I'm thinking, "What a dork!" and I slowed down and even tapped my breaks just to play with him. Well, come to find out, he really WAS called off and it WASN'T him behind us! Ack! Sorry Mr. Officer-sir. :P
Isaak is doing SO well this year. We figured out a nice combination of medication that really helps him, and he's just maturing. Things that would previously have really "gotten" him, he's just letting slide off his back. He's so much easier to reason with and is more cooperative than ever. It's great! The best thing is that he's getting his own little group of friends that WE are not arranging for him! With that, though, comes some real emotional conflicts. He, for the first time, experienced a real sense of disappointment from people (as opposed to a game or activity he couldn't do). Some friends were getting together to have a Pokemon battle, and one friend said he'd pick him up or something since Isaak didn't know where it was. Well, I didn't know anything about it until that day, almost at the minute he was supposed to come. And, he didn't come. So, Isaak sat and waited anxiously, only to be disappointed that it didn't happen. We didn't have the guy's phone number to figure out what the story was, so I couldn't help him. I just had to assure him that it was OK and probably just a miscommunication and it wouldn't be the last time. But, to see those real tears and that true emotional pain was quite something. It was so NORMAL.
Little Audra is a doll. She's had a good year. She's not a huge fan of school, but she's a hard worker and a sweet girl. I told her this summer I'd hire her to come and be a "helper" in the clinic. She can start learning the work I do, and I think she'll be great at it. She's really excited to do that. She also wants to paint a picture for the new office.
We did the local Autism Society (of Oregon) Autism Walk-a-Thon today. So many people! The last walk we did was probably 5-7 years ago in Seattle. There weren't nearly as many people. I think the word is out. There was a statistic written on the path that said that Oregon has a rate of 1 in 88 (national is 1 in 150). Don't know how they're tracking their data, but if that's accurate, whoa! Anyway, it was a nice day. I know there's a lot of talk about the cause of autism right now, lots of people debating this or that. I wish I knew (I always get asked), but I can't worry about that. My fight, my focus, has to be intervention. I'll let the other people do the research and figure it all out. Hopefully, with events like this and more prominent people coming out of the woodworks, someone will figure it out.
Until next time (hopefully not another 9 months)!
Audra
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