Championship Game Day

Let's Go Gators!

Interesting call from last night's game

Who knew there is a rule that a player must slide into home plate or the run may not count? I learned something new last night. (I have not been able to locate that rule in the rule book, although this web site, scroll down to #3, says that rule is a myth. Found this, too, saying the player is not required to slide.)

I caught the unusual call on video because my son was at bat (he made it to third base):

The interesting call didn't throw our players; it became a lesson in resiliency. They rolled with it and kept playing hard.
We're all so proud of them!

We were just a little bit excited as we realized we won the game:

Joy Revisited

What a game! After defeating the only undefeated team two nights ago, we met them on the diamond again tonight in a double-elimination tournament.

We were behind until the bottom of the 5th inning, when we managed to tie the game and then pull ahead. (We play six innings in our division.) And at the opposing team's last at-bat, we got 'em in a three up, three down situation, and won the game!

Our boys are in the championship!

Maple Chicken Kabobs

From the blog,

Franklin Mom,

a gluten free,

dairy free recipe

http://franklinmom.typepad.com/franklin_mom_blog/2010/06/maple-chicken-kababs.html

Joy

Joy:
Defeating the undefeated team.

Next, we play them again in this double elimination tournament.

Feelin' like a V.I.P. today...

I won a GFCF recipe contest in May (see HERE for details). Today, I picked up my prize - and rather than having a gift card available at customer service for me to pick up, two administrators met me at one of their stores to give me a gift card in person. How special is that? We even had a photo shoot in front of one of the gluten free sections!

I'm excited about the large selection of gluten free items that Hiller's Market carries. They add to their selection all the time. Today, I saw King Arthur GF flours and GF baking mixes for the first time. Woo hoo!

Bursting with Joy (review)

There is so much to learn for a parent of a child with special needs.

We must become unexpected experts in areas we never imagined. We parents often need a different set of experts to guide us through each topic. : Educational development and academics; life skills; relationship skills; non-verbal communication; verbal communication; emotional development; social development; mainstream medical treatment; alternative medical treatment; gross motor development; fine motor development; auditory processing; visual processing; I could go on and on.

Among all the new areas of expertise we parents of special needs children have to learn, Joan Broggi, in Bursting with Joy, writes about one aspect of learning that is often an unexpected bonus: the lessons that we learn from our children with special needs. They are wonderful teachers; and Broggi reminds us to look for the great joy in our experiences.

Parenting a child with special needs is an interesting journey.

Joan Broggi understands. She's a mom to an adult son with special needs and his sibs - she walked the path a few years before I did. And she confronted all of the emotions, the roller coaster of ups and downs, ahead of me.

Broggi's approach in her new book, "Bursting with Joy," is to journey through the stages of grief, "adapting some of her chapter headings from Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's book, 'On Death and Dying'", followed by her own chapter about joy.

I am cognisant of the fact that I go through stages of grief because of autism. I know that getting to acceptance doesn't mean I don't revisit anger or denial sometimes. I am able to recognize and talk about the blessings and gifts we've received because of autism, gifts we would not have received without autism. And yet, focusing on the blessings and the joy as Broggi learned to hasn't been a huge focus for me in the middle of all of what sometimes feels so much like work, a heavy weight.

"Bursting With Joy, Discovering Universal Truths Through Our Special Son," is an easy read about a topic that is not simple. Broggi is honest, authentic with the reader when she shares experiences and emotions that are sad, disappointing. She offers hope as she describes how to take control of what is within my control (my attitude - something I fight daily).

Broggi takes the reader through her stages of grief and takes us beyond grief into joy, and she reminds me of the importance of having a positive, joyful perspective. She's an excellent teacher. She knows how I feel; she's been there, too. I relate to her experience. I'm glad that"Bursting With Joy, Discovering Universal Truths Through Our Special Son," is now a part of my journey. You gave me a special gift. Thanks, Joan. ;)

Bursting with Joy retails for $12.95
Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: Ferne Press (February 15, 2010)
ISBN-10: 1933916532
ISBN-13: 978-1933916538

Joan Broggi Books has a facebook page.

Disclosure: Joan Broggi contacted me via e-mail to tell me about her book and sent me a complimentary review copy. I am not financially compensated for reviews and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

More reflections on MOMMY RADAR

I thought I had my mommy radar in check. I thought that my own self-awareness of the mommy radar I have with my child w/ autism was in an appropriate place. I thought that I've not been using it as much.

Then, at a disability awareness event, I was given a set of EAR PLUGS and a pair of NOISE CANCELING HEADPHONES to wear. My child with autism was given the same items. We were to interact with one another from a perspective of a disability - and each of us were assigned a hearing impairment.

Interesting.

I was amazed at the self-awareness I discovered. I rely heavily on listening to my daughter.

I used to watch her all the time, and I knew that my enhanced mommy radar was keeping her from being responsible for watching those around her. Her experience was, "I don't have to check in visually to make sure I'm with Mom in the grocery store; Mom watches me and reminds me when I'm too far away." Or, "I don't have to check in visually to make sure Mom is listening when I'm talking because Mom is so in tune to me."

I was creating and contributing to learned helplessness. I had to learn to watch her closely, yet disguise my radar and pretend that I wasn't always watching her. I had to shift what she should be responsible for - in terms of attention, paying attention, sharing attention, shifting attention -over to her.

During this disability awareness assignment, when a good deal of my hearing was shut off by ear plugs and head phones, I realized that instead of watching her all the time, I simply switched senses. I began listening to her more closely. I realized that she counted on me to be listening more than I imagined. Our parent/child dance includes her counting on my listening to her! And my not being able to hear little things, like her footsteps, to tell me if she'd wandered in another direction, raised my anxiety and made me want to monitor her more closely with my vision, a compensation of one sense by another.

I've begun to make adjustments again. Oh, I still watch her closely. And I still listen closely. I pretend not to, though. I'm trying to refrain from acting on my radar in situations where my daughter can take responsibility for her own watching and listening (attention sharing, attention shifting).

I'm a work in progress.

I blogged about mommy radar HERE and HERE.

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"From Tutor Scripts to Talking Sticks" (review)

I have a problem with the subtitle of the latest book I received to review. The "100 Ways to Differentiate Instruction in K-12 Inclusive Classrooms" that follows the title, "From Tutor Scripts to Talking Sticks", is misleading. "From Tutor Scripts to Talking Sticks" ($34.95 list price; $23.07 at Amazon right now) is a book of 100 *FANTASTIC* ways to differentiate instruction for *ANY* student, and is not limited to "inclusive classrooms". Homeschoolers will find this book helpful. Staff members in school-building-schools who teach students in pull-out "specials" or contained special-ed classrooms will find this book helpful. If you are the parent and/or teacher to a child with unique learning needs in any educational setting, this is a *must have* book.

First of all, every idea in the book has been tested and has been proven to be successful. Each of the 100 ways to differentiate instruction is pictured and described. The reader doesn't have to guess what the finished product looks like. "How to" directions are provided in great detail. Kluth and Danaher provide examples, a "Keep in Mind" section to spotlight other uses or aspects of some of the ideas. Readers are given a References/Recommended Reading section with *each* idea (no need to flip to the back and try to sort through a long list of references because the related references are right on the page with the idea), with quite a few new-to-me references (and I've read a lot over the past 10 years). Many ideas are low-cost or are made with supplies you already have at home or school; Kluth calls 'em "dollar store differentiation" ideas. The authors provide a Vendor section with each idea so that users know where to purchase materials needed to complete each idea. And finally, Kluth and Danaher give the reader a list of related web sites at the end of each idea. Kluth and Danaher thought of everything and have organized it in a way that maximizes my time. I've not seen a book like it (and I've seen a lot of books about adapting material and differentiating instruction for students with unique learning needs).

The book is heavy and lies open, flat, without my having to weight it down. (I like that.) So many of the ideas have me thinking, "I should have thought of that." They're simple, when I think about them, and make sense. I need a pad of sticky notes to bookmark pages. I need a notebook or electronic notepad to keep a list of the ideas I want to try.

Most of the ideas are simple to implement, yet, I'm so glad I got this book now. NOW (June) is the time to BUY this book. As a homeschooler, I have a little bit of time before we gear up with school again at my house, time to gather materials, order a few items, so that I can implement some of the ideas in late summer or fall. For those of you starting school in August or September, summer is a great time for planning, and this is a wonderful resource to help parents/teachers be better facilitators of all things academic and some things social, including relationship w/ self and aspects of executive functioning.

I don't know anything about co-author Sheila Danahan beyond what is written in the "About the Authors" page. She's an administrator and educator in Chicago Public Schools.

I do know a lot about co-author Paula Kluth. (When my daughter was in public school, I purchased Kluth's books for my daughter's teachers.)

Paula Kluth is well-known among special ed parents and professionals in public schools. Kluth was a public school teacher who has a natural instinct, natural gift for grasping the importance of inclusion, particularly of children with autism, an the necessity to adapt materials and differentiate instruction so that all students learn. She writes and markets her wisdom to school-building schools with inclusion as a focus.

She's amazing. Her creativity never ends. If you have an opportunity to attend one of her presentations in person, GO.

She's an amazing speaker (I've seen her three times). She has me believing that I can do this stuff, too, for my daughter, and when my daughter was still in public school, had me believing that if only I could get my daughter's teachers there to hear her, Kluth's enthusiasm and creativity would rub off on them, too.

As I chat with parents from the homeschooling world, particularly those homeschooling children with unique learning needs, I tend to discover that homeschoolers don't know about the wisdom and creativity of Paula Kluth.

Paula Kluth's web site, which is a super resource, is HERE.

Paula Kluth's facebook page is HERE; the 1000th fan will get a copy of this book and two more (and so will the person who referred them, so if you're the 1000th fan, tell 'em I sent you, please).

There is a facebook page for the book HERE, where Kluth has been posting pages/ideas from the book.

From Tutor Scripts to Talking Sticks, 100 Ways to Differentiate Instruction in K-12 Inclusive Classrooms by Paula Kluth and Sheila Danaher
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Paul H Brookes Pub Co; 1 edition (March 30, 2010)
ISBN-10: 1598570803
ISBN-13: 978-1598570809

Brookes Publishing sent me a review copy of From Tutor Scripts to Talking Sticks, 100 Ways to Differentiate Instruction in K-12 Inclusive Classrooms by Paula Kluth and Sheila Danaher. I am not financially compensated for reviews and am not obligated to provide a positive review.