I don’t travel frequently for work.
I’m a software development manager – until about six months ago, I was a developer – and most of my team is based in the same office where I work. While I do work for a large, multinational company, my meetings are more frequently over the phone or video conferencing when it involves folks in distant offices. Sometimes, though, there’s that need for face to face contact. Continue reading
According to the GPS data from the bus company, the bus arrived at school on time today, for the first time all school year.
The whole ordeal of trying to get the school system to ensure that my child is on time to school – and this is the second year in a row I’ve had to push and push – has made me reflect quite a bit on what I’ve learned since we got the Monster’s diagnosis. Some of these, obviously, pertain to just about any parent with their children, but some have special emphasis for those of us with children with special needs: Continue reading
Being the age that I am, I have plenty of friends and family who also have children around the same age as the Monster.
One of my cousins posted a link to a blog post on a Patch site today regarding a parent who is sitting back at a reasonable distance to let her children explore the playground, but moreover is asking that other parents don’t step in to help her children either. It does, on reading it (and the copious comments, both pro and con), make me wonder what other parents think when the Monster’s on the playground. Continue reading
If it’s not bad enough that the Monster obviously has receptive and expressive language issues… it’s the fact that sometimes, as parents, we do as well.
I know that children are always going to be challenging. I know this enough from dealing with my friends’ NT children, and seeing how they are on the verge themselves of tearing their hair out with the effort to avoid ending the problem. (As I’ve said in other contexts – God made them cute to ensure their survival.) Continue reading
So, while watching the kids playing in the back yard yesterday, the wife made a comment to me about how I seem to be dealing with the issue of the Monster’s Autism differently than she is. The thrust of it was that I seem to internalize it more than she does, and that I’m not really “showing” that it bothers me as much as it does her, et cetera…
It does bother me, feeling like my kid isn’t where other children his own age are. I just find other outlets for my frustration. Continue reading
I don’t know about other parents with children with Autism, but we tend to let a lot of things slide because we’re tending to the Monster’s care.
Now… messy houses with multiple kids aren’t anything that weird. (Though I do seem to know quite a few folks with multiple kids who have folks to help them clean…) I know that. And our house usually isn’t that much of a disaster. The problem is… the garage. Continue reading
Just as a follow on to yesterday’s post (see Heal Thyself), I thought I’d give an idea to anyone who’s never been through a sleep study what it’s like. (I’ll have a real post later today, related actually to life with the Monster.)
I will admit, to start, that I didn’t look forward to doing this at all. I realize, of course, that finding out whether or not I have sleep apnea is very important (and potentially life-saving), but… it’s a matter of both not enjoying the idea of having someone watching me sleep and not wanting to be uncomfortable both during the study and with the resulting treatment if it turns out to be the case. Continue reading
With a child who is on the Spectrum, I spend a lot of time worrying about his health and developmental needs. Between juggling his therapy appointments, gymnastics in lieu of physical therapy that the city will no longer grant, and getting him to and from school, there’s a lot of things on that list.
The one thing that doesn’t appear on that list – and probably should, for obvious reasons – is my own health needs. Continue reading
Every so often, I work from home during the day to give the wife a break from watching both kids.
Now, I know, obviously I’m a software engineer and I therefore am not “that busy”, since I’m somewhat settled in a single spot while I’m working. And more so since I was recently promoted to being the software development manager for my team. Continue reading
I’ve written in the past – most notably, in reaction to a comment I made elsewhere that seemed to evoke a lot of conflict – about how it irks me when the Monster (and other children with special needs) are excluded from events with other children their own age, including classmates’ birthday parties, seemingly just on the basis of their disabilities.
It’s not just the Monster, though – it’s the parents too. Continue reading