Collin got up early (like 3:30am early) Saturday morning. So, we decided to head into Billings and pick up some of the homeschooling supplies I wanted:
card stock to make flashcards
Tote to keep everything in
Egg timer to keep us on track
Journal to record his progress
Atta boy stickers
New kid books
I think little man is excited about it because he wanted to get into everything NOW! We also hit the natural foods store, but all they had was almond milk we can't seem to find very often. I plan on mixing his powder supplement in it once it gets here Friday.
He is still battling the cooties, he didn't want to eat much; I think he has a sore throat since he kept clearing his throat. I keep telling myself....these are just speed bumps and we'll get there!
Well, whatever Collin brought home from school nipped me in the bum on Friday. About the only thing I was able to do was to make a list of all the supplies I wanted and ordered the nutritional supplements recommended by The Cherab Foundation.
I also found a really good blog called "Testy yet trying" written by a Speech Pathologist who's daughter was diagnosed with Childhood Apraxia of Speech. She has a lot of great resources on her site as well as a bunch of free downloads (like practice cards). I spent a good chuck of the day reading, learning and downloading.
Collin stayed home because he was still feeling kinda puny and running a low grade fever. Hopefully, he'll feel well enough to go to school on Monday.
The speech therapy book that I had ordered from Amazon arrived today. It's called "Improving Speech and Eating Skills in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders." When the box arrived, I was both excited and nervous. After all, what the hell do I know about teaching someone how to talk? Isn't it supposed to be something that every kid just kinda learns naturally? I know my parents used to wish that I had never learned to talk because I never shut up, not even when I am sleeping.
So here sits my conundrum; how do I teach someone, in this case, my non-verbal autistic son, to use something that I was overly blessed with? I'm hoping this book will give me a few pointers and direction (straight down isn't an option). And, I promised myself (ok, it was more of a veiled threat) that when the book arrived, it was time to get serious and start mapping out a plan of action while I wait for his speech DVDs to show up.
Here's the rough draft of my action plan:
Read the book. (I know...DUH)
Create a lesson plan (yeah, I have no idea how to do this).
Get a notebook to journal the lessons, nutritional supplements, thoughts, and progress/failures.
Organize my day to make it most efficient to get in all the normal stuff as well as speech.
Seek out resources.
Commit to a daily blog post to summarize the day
If there are any educators, special education teachers, therapists, parents that have had this issue, or someone that might have a brilliant (heck, I'd even take luke-warm) idea or can point me in the direction of some great resources, I'd love to hear them in the comments.
I think I'm ready to start down this road. I hope it's a journey filled with positive advancements. Failure is NOT an option.
