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Tuesday Tales – Can I tell you about Asperger Syndrome?

Posted on July 16, 2013 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Asperger Syndrome is part of my world. While my son has only had an official diagnosis for a little over a year now, I suspected it for many years and wrote about it here and there. When my son started fourth grade last September, it was our first academic year with answers at the get go. I truly was thankful for answers, although I was cautiously optimistic about some things. My son began the year with a long term substitute in his classroom and we documented some items heading into our Committee for Special Education Meeting a short time after. While I will not go into our CSE meetings, I will tell you about an amazing discovery thanks to my son’s teacher that started the year.

Ms. P was told about NHL’s diagnosis and we met many times to talk about things that would trigger his anxiety, stimming, and other behaviors. In addition to this, his long term substitute bought books on her own about Autism and Asperger’s. While I know they were not entirely to learn about NHL (she was in graduate school), she wanted to know more about the way he was thinking to help him in the classroom. One day, after school, she walked out with some of the books and asked if I wanted to borrow some to look over if they were new to me. One of the books caught my eye. It was actually on my list to purchase because a lot of people had recommended it.

Can I tell you about Asperger Syndrome? – A guide for friends and family seriously changed our lives. The first time we read the book as a family with the boys. Each time, we would stop to talk with NHL and he would weigh in on how things were similar to his feelings. I highly recommend reading the book with a newly diagnosed child to ease their fears of new buzz words that they may be hearing from the adults in their life. As a parent not on the Autism Spectrum, a light bulb went off in my head as we read. Not only did it really explain things in terms for children, it would be a great book to share with our family members and possibly to gift to teachers in the future that will work with my son.

Author Jude Welton has an Aspie son and wrote this book to help children 7-15 years old to understand the challenges that children with Asperger Syndrome face. The book explains what Asperger Syndrome is, what it feels like to an Aspie child living in a neurotypical world, and how they can assist. Each section of the book has a cartoon drawing of Adam on the left side by illustrator Jane Telford. With each of the drawings, there is a statement from Adam. The right side of the page continues explaining items in simple terms that children and adults who are unfamiliar with the Autism Spectrum will understand.

This relatively short book is packed with truly valuable information. Welton has managed to hit so many of the topics that really do confuse friends, family, and others that are unfamiliar with Autism. These items include:

Reading feelings
Tones of voice
Playing with others
Loud noises
Confusing groups
Unexpected change
Motor skills
Special interests

In addition to these areas, there is also a section about Asperger Syndrome, suggestions on how to help children, and specific pointers for teachers. Welton has also included other recommended reading, websites, and organizations at the end of the books. The book really is a fantastic resource that we have loaned to our family and some individuals that work with our son. I do believe I am going to be buying a copy to leave in our school as a donated resource for the future.

If you have other book recommendations about autism, please be sure to let me know. As always, Tuesday Tales is all about sharing our love of books. Please let me know what you have read recently. Be sure to link up to your book posts in the comments below. Include something you read on your own, with a child, or someone else.

Categories:
books Educational Tuesday Tales

Tuesday Tales – When’s the Doctor?

Posted on July 9, 2013 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

I have a confession. I used to laugh at TechyDad when he would watch Doctor Who. While he would head off to watch that, I would concentrate on knitting/crocheting and catching up on something like Downton Abbey. Then something happened one day. I realized I was intrigued with Doctor Who. While the music annoyed me from a distance, the geek fest made me curious when other friends were into the show. Plus, it was a way to share something with TechyDad and still be able to avoid Hobbits and the like.

While TechyDad was able to convince me to watch the show, the boys were not interested. They would protest and resist. For Father’s Day I wanted to get something Doctor Who for the boys to give to TechyDad. While searching online, I found the When’s the Doctor book (illustrations by Jorge Santillan).

Yes, the book is basically a Where’s Waldo-esque seach-and-find book with Doctor Who references. While it was a juvenile book for TechyDad, I had an ulterior motive. In the back of my mind, I was wondering if this book could connect with our boys and get them interested enough to become Whovian. At first, the boys were oblivious and did not really care. Then, as we made less of the book they were more attracted to it. When the book went with us for the ride to the lake over the holiday weekend, NHL kept asking TechyDad about items within it.

NHL and JSL were curious why we always say “Don’t Blink” when we see statues. They liked to pretend to talk like a Dalek, but they had never seen them in an episode. Well, my experiment may have paid off. While JSL (6) has said for a while that he was interested in watching Doctor Who, NHL (almost 10) was holding out. That was until the other morning when he told me he wants us all to sit down and watch the first episode of Doctor Who together.

Yes, we will go back to visiting the Ninth Doctor with Christopher Eccleston from 2005. The kids will get to meet Rose, Casandra, The Face of Boe, Daleks, and many more Doctor Who staples. Of course, if we are lucky they will work their way slowly to meet the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors. Not only will they see David Tennant and Matt Smith as The Doctor, they will get to experience other companions like Martha, Donna, Amy, Rory, and Clara.

Have you ever used books get your children interested in something that you enjoy? As always, Tuesday Tales is all about sharing our love of books. Please let me know what you have read recently. Be sure to link up to your book posts in the comments below. Include something you read on your own, with a child, or someone else.

Categories:
books television Tuesday Tales

Tuesday Tales – Summer Writing Time

Posted on July 2, 2013 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

This summer, one of my goals with the boys is to get them writing more. Reading is important, but the teacher in me does not want the writing to slide over the time off. As JSL finished kindergarten, he seemed to be on a major writing kick and I did not want to let go of this enthusiasm. He was writing story after story, and loved alternating with fun poems that he would illustrate.

JSL’s writing book also came home from the school year and I could see growth within that small journal (photo above). A simple sentence that was likely copied, quickly became several sentences with his own inventive spelling based on his phonemic awareness.

One day when it was raining, I asked JSL if he wanted to write a new story or poem and start a book for the summer. He immediately said yes. To change things up and help inspire him, I gave him a new booklet of stickers with his composition notebook. Within minutes, the newly minted first grader was off and writing. He picked a sticker and started to write a poem about dogs called Woof. The next day, he asked for the notebook again and wanted to write more. The next thing I knew, he was sharing two more poems called Meow and Tweet.

I love watching him write and enjoy it. This was my favorite age to teach because of the way you could literally watch their reading and writing grow each and every day. An added bonus at our house was NHL’s reaction. At almost ten years old, NHL is a reluctant writer. For a variety of reasons, he has a hard time getting his thoughts on paper (typically, his brain is going a mile a minute and his hands can not keep up), so he uses tech devices to assist. Suddenly, he asked for a notebook, pencil, crayons, and stickers to start his own book. He began with a table of contents and then wrote a story about a doggy ball game and after that started something about fish. My next idea is to work on something that is more interactive with both of the boys. More about that coming soon.

Do you work on writing over the summer with your children? I would love to know what you may do with them. As always, Tuesday Tales is all about sharing our love of books. Please let me know what you have read recently. Be sure to link up to your book posts in the comments below. Include something you read on your own, with a child, or someone else.

Categories:
Educational school Tuesday Tales

Tuesday Tales – Summer 2013 Reading

Posted on June 18, 2013 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

The boys are participating in a summer reading program at our local library again. As I have mentioned in the past, it really helps to motivate kids to take time and read during the two months away from school. Of course, they are not the only ones that like to read. I have a lot of books that I want to read and only wish I had more hours in the day.

This summer there are a few books that I hope to read about Autism and related items. My goal is to come up with more information that will help my son, his teachers, and our family to make the transition from elementary school to middle school in a little over a year easier. I also like to preview some books that the boys may read before they get to them. Of course, I also want to play catch up on Ridley Pearson’s Kingdom Keepers series. I am now two books behind and would love to catch up before the last in the series is released. My Kindle is also stocked with several Net Galleys of books that will be coming out soon. It is always fun to get a sneak peek of books coming soon. To say that my to-read list on GoodReads is large would be an understatement.

In addition to this, I will be reading books with the boys. NHL and I have all of the Splurch Academy for Disruptive Boys books to complete. Last summer, JSL and I voraciously read through practically all of the Magic Tree House books and are waiting for the next releases. No doubt he and I will find something to read together, plus he will be reading books to me this year. Now to make a plan and get ready to start next week.

So what is on your list of books to read with your children or solo this summer? I would love to hear about more titles that other people are reading. As always, Tuesday Tales is all about sharing our love of books. Please let me know what you have read recently. Be sure to link up to your book posts in the comments below. Include something you read on your own, with a child, or someone else.

Categories:
books Tuesday Tales

Tuesday Tales – Splurch Academy for Disruptive Boys

Posted on June 11, 2013 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

My boys are growing up and with that the reality that they are both able to read on their own. While this is a huge milestone for my kindergarten kiddo, he is my “baby” and it is hard to let go at times. Some of my favorite memories with the boys are curling up and reading favorite books with them. I was the new mother that had a pile of my teacher books ready to introduce my son to Eric Carle, Laura Joffe Numeroff, and other favorites from teaching and my childhood.

It has been a while since I have read with NHL. As an almost ten year old, he spent much of last summer reading about the wonderful Wizarding World of Harry Potter with TechyDad. When reading alone, my Aspie tends to prefer reading non-fiction books. While it is great for him to read about science, math, people, places, and things of the world – the educator in me wants to expand his horizons. Of course, I will not push too hard and we just search for new fiction books that will keep his interest.

While at the Albany Children’s Book Festival in April, we met author Julie Gardner Berry. Although it may not have looked like my son was paying attention to her, he was listening. Ms. Berry took time to talk to him. She was explaining the premise of the Splurch Academy for Disruptive Boys series of books. She pointed out that the main characters in the book are a group of boys. In addition to this, the boys get into some trouble and have to do a lot of problem solving. As I mentioned in my post from the Festival, NHL selected the first of the Splurch Academy books to get autographed and purchase.

I also think one of the items that sold NHL was the illustrations by Berry’s sister Sally Faye Gardner. Not only are there comic book style illustrations within the book by Gardner, they truly are interactive. Many times the story heads right into the pictures with Cody Mack, Headmaster Farley, and the other characters.

NHL and I finished The Rat Brain Fiasco (book 1) and are well into Curse of the Bizarro Beetle (book 2) right now. It seems that he does best with fiction books as a read aloud and I am not upset with this. It is nice to be able to spend time with my big kid and read. We are able to talk about the situations that pop up. We can discuss the social scenarios that happen with the boys and even some of the teachers at times. I have a feeling we will be ordering more of the Splurch Academy books soon. We are in luck too since there are now four titles available.

As always, Tuesday Tales is all about sharing our love of books. Please let me know what you have read recently. Be sure to link up to your book posts in the comments below. Include something you read on your own, with a child, or someone else.

Disclosure: None really since we bought both of the books on our own. Thanks to meeting Ms. Berry and reading her books we wanted to share our experience with the Splurch Academy books.