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Just One Day PDF Print E-mail
Written by Gayle Nobel   
Sunday, 21 October 2012 19:38

Blog-a-thon Day #21

Thank you Groucho.

"Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it."

~~Groucho Marx

 
Lightening My Load PDF Print E-mail
Written by Gayle Nobel   
Saturday, 20 October 2012 05:03
Blog a thon Day #20 We are up at our cabin near Payson, AZ. I thought I would be pecking something short out on my Iphone, our only internet access up here. I realized I could sync our bluetooth Apple keyboard to my phone and voila, I have a mini computer with internet. I will apologize in advance however. The formatting is not working and all the paragraphs are running into one even though I am leaving lots of space in between them. Technology is not yet perfect. I guess that's the limitation of working on the Iphone. Kyle got me up much earlier than I would have chosen this morning but he was just following his normal routine. Never mind that it is Saturday, a day where "some" people like to sleep in. We parked together on the couch under a blanket and watched the sun come up over the Mogollon Rim. Not a bad way to start the day. I forgave him for the early hour. Before we left yesterday, I interviewed a girl as back up respite person to Tammy, the main gal I rely on. Our world has changed in the last year and a half since we've had Tammy. Kyle's has changed too. All very much for the better. Sometimes we can even pretend to be partial empty nesters. Kyle's life has become much bigger and we've had little tastes here and there of the freedom that many couples experience when their kids are all in their 20's. I decided I needed a back up that can fill in some of the gaps when Tammy is not working. This time I was going for the peer age group vs the mom age group. The first person I spoke to on the phone and interviewed seems to be just the gal I had in mind. Another special ed. teacher full of knowledge, enthusiasm and fresh ideas. I envision her to be another person who, like Tammy, will take initiative and be self motivated. I'm happy to have found another person who does not need an explanation of autism but just needs to get to know Kyle and learn the way we do things with him. She happens to live five minutes from us, an added bonus. In the computer age it is so much easier to find help than it was when Kyle was small. There was no internet and that made it really challenging to find helpers when I was running my home school program. Word of mouth and flyers were the only way. Now there is care.com. Within three days of posting an ad again, I had 12 qualified applicants. I have gotten really good at screening just based on the inquiry message. I can almost make a decision after a phone interview. I trust and listen closely to my instincts. There are a lot of people out there looking for work. As parents, this is to our advantage. In Arizona, we have respite, habilitation, and attendant care hours through the state. Many applicants already have the needed certification for that. If not, they are usually eager to get it. Care.com has providers from all over the country and many are looking for positions in special needs. If it is a person with experience, they have often seen it all. Or at least, a lot. I'm excited about our new gal. I welcome another person to lighten my load and make Kyle's life even richer. Quotacious: Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something. ~~Unknown
Last Updated on Saturday, 20 October 2012 23:26
 
Intentions PDF Print E-mail
Written by Gayle Nobel   
Friday, 19 October 2012 07:43

Blog-a-thon Day #19

It's Friday morning and I'm trying to decide on an intention for the day. We have been talking in yoga about setting a daily intention and then watching what life does with it. The point is we never get exactly what we want but we can point ourselves in the direction of our intentions. Then,  with awareness, we can observe ourselves reacting to going on and off course.

So far, I'm drawing a blank on what I would like my intention to be for today. But I have come across this inspiration once again and am reminded that the list makes for some great LIFE intentions.

How to live a life without regrets:

~~be true to your real self

~~don't work so hard you miss your life

~~have the courage to express your feelings

~~stay in touch with your friends

~~let yourself be happy

From Top five regrets of the dying

Quotacious:

"Having good intentions isn't enough when actions fail; you also need some bad intentions so that you look competent."

~~Benson Bruno

Last Updated on Friday, 19 October 2012 19:33
 
Shhhhh PDF Print E-mail
Written by Gayle Nobel   
Thursday, 18 October 2012 19:05

Blog-a-thon Day #18

At our last team meeting we all agreed we wanted to address Kyle's noise level. While he does not have words, he has a great variety of sounds in a wide range of decibel levels. His volume is related to excitement, stress, sensory stimulation, joining within a conversation, and who knows what else.

As a team, we are working on teaching Kyle to quiet down in certain places and situations. I admit to not being sure he had that much control of himself. Therefore, I thought it was going to be pretty difficult to help him adjust his noise level.

We brainstormed and came up with a few strategies. Certain rooms of the house are quiet rooms and we all will talk quietly to him and ask him to be quieter in these rooms. Even if he just tones it down a few notches, that's a positive adjustment. We will really whoop it up and get loud in the loud rooms like his bedroom and downstairs TV room. We will help him stop and slow down in the community when he is loud and fast and ask him to quiet down before moving on. We will play with contrast especially in music therapy. Very loud /very soft. We have even cut the paper he likes to flap into squares so in the quiet areas, the paper is quiet. We will address sensory stimulation with gum and massage. These are just some of our starting points.

Kyle's response has been nothing short of miraculous. I am amazed at how much he has been able to control himself sometimes going from loud to completely silent. Or sometimes adjusting to a much softer voice.  It is so beautiful to see Kyle learn right before our eyes. We've only been at it a week and everyone has reported similar results.

I believe I have not given Kyle enough credit in this area. Quieting his voice is not something we can prompt him to do. It has to come from him. We can ask, but ultimately he is in full control of that.

This takes a lot of mindful awareness on our part. And perseverance. Kyle's response has been an unexpected bonus reward. Often it takes a very long time of trying for something before we see changes. I thought this would be much harder so I have been pleasantly encouraged and surprised. I am fully aware that Kyle has the option of not responding at all. And that happens too sometimes. But if we give it enough time, there has always been some kind of response.

And the life lesson is:  point yourself in the direction of what you want, take action, adjust when necessary, and keep trying.  Don't be thrown off course by lack of results. Appreciate small movements. Try as best  you can not to decide ahead of time how the process will unfold. You'll be wrong anyway.

Quotacious:

"The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They're there to stop the other people."

 

~~Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

 

 


Last Updated on Friday, 19 October 2012 02:22
 
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