I just realized that it's been a long time since I posted here. So I thought I'd take some time and update the couple of people who once watched this (and have likely lost interest in the last several months.)
Over the summer, my wife and I finally had the stand up in front of everyone wedding, on our one year anniversary. All kinds of things went wrong, and others went right, but nothing went as planned. We didn't get any sleep that night, because we had to leave early that morning and it took all night to get packed and everything in order to be gone for two weeks as my in-laws sent us to Mexico for our honeymoon.
Mexico was a lot of fun, even though I picked up a nasty virus after the end of week one and was sick long after we returned. It was my first trip out of the county (visiting Vancouver BC when I was three doesn't count) and my first time flying in a plane. I thought that watching the wing flaps move was fun, my wife, the seasoned traveler had to use the little white bags they give you for motion sickness issues. She found it ironic. It was very hot and humid, but oddly bearable. The only issue I had was that Diet Coke tastes funny in Mexico (besides being sick that is.)
I tried to get through calculus last fall, and was out of sync all quarter. I was sick the first week, and I'd not taken any classes during summer because of the planned trip and planning the wedding, so I was out of the habit of doing homework. I didn't fail, but I didn't pass either (D is now my least favorite letter.) This quarter I'm getting my English 105 out of the way (and doing much better.) The calculus series that's offered in the evenings will not be available to me until next fall, so I'll fill in with other things until then. I may even take English 205 next quarter if I'm not sick of english already (and if I do then I'll be done with english classes!)
And I'll finish with the best news that has happened since my last post here. In January, after dragging her feet for months, my ex wife and I went into court and entered an agree on change in custody. I am now the custodial parent of my kids. The only sticking point was she didn't want to pay child support, she didn't get out of it, but has yet to make a payment. If she doesn't start soon then someone at the Office of Support Enforcement will end up making her life unpleasant.
Well, that's all for now. I'll try to update more often in the future.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
School Update
I just finished another quarter of school, one more math class behind me. After a very tough quarter with getting mostly C's on the tests, I managed to pull an A- on the final, which gave me a final grade of B+ (I got an attendance bonus to bring the B I earned up to a B+.)
And that is the last of the pre-requisit math. Next fall I start Calculus, and from then on everything affects more than just my overall GPA.
And that is the last of the pre-requisit math. Next fall I start Calculus, and from then on everything affects more than just my overall GPA.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Daylight Savings doesn't really save
I've always hated Daylight Savings time. I'm not big on change and I love when I have a regular steady schedule, so it's just not fun to change the time on the clock twice a year, just because someone somewhere thinks that it makes people use less energy. My dislike of change is not unusual amoung the autistic community.
Today, what is at the top of the news on Yahoo!? Why it's a story about how Daylight Savings doesn't save on energy costs. In fact not only does it not save, but more energy is used during Daylight Savings, then when the same area Standard Time during the summer. In Indiana, where they just recently started changing to Daylight Savings time, politicians had promised that changing would save consumers a total of about $7 million a year in energy costs. A recent study showed that the truth is more like spending an additional $8.6 million per year. Now admittedly that does average about $3.19 a year for each house, but think of the principle here. We've been told for decades that Daylight Savings was to SAVE money on energy.
This kind of news really is upsetting. I mean I could handle that I get messed up twice a year and go through tons of stress and many nights shorts lots and lots of sleep if it was for something good. But now I learn that not only is it not useful in any way, but they knew that it might not be working as advertised as far back as 1976. For some reason this is not surprising at all.
Today, what is at the top of the news on Yahoo!? Why it's a story about how Daylight Savings doesn't save on energy costs. In fact not only does it not save, but more energy is used during Daylight Savings, then when the same area Standard Time during the summer. In Indiana, where they just recently started changing to Daylight Savings time, politicians had promised that changing would save consumers a total of about $7 million a year in energy costs. A recent study showed that the truth is more like spending an additional $8.6 million per year. Now admittedly that does average about $3.19 a year for each house, but think of the principle here. We've been told for decades that Daylight Savings was to SAVE money on energy.
This kind of news really is upsetting. I mean I could handle that I get messed up twice a year and go through tons of stress and many nights shorts lots and lots of sleep if it was for something good. But now I learn that not only is it not useful in any way, but they knew that it might not be working as advertised as far back as 1976. For some reason this is not surprising at all.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
What a difference accomodations make
I have two failed attempts at college behind me. Both attempts, one in 1994-1995 and the other in 2000, were before I knew that I was autistic. Tests were difficult, and when I was taking someone outside of one of my special interests it was even more difficult to get through.
Now I'm trying again with accomodations. I get to take tests in a quiet room and I get extra time so I'm not rushed (worrying about how much time is left can really slow you down, even more so when you sometimes have to read a question several times to understand it.) This didn't slow me much in high school but, as my AP teachers noticed when I bombed my AP tests, sometimes it did.
Since I'm working full time, I'm going to school part time (only one class at a time.) As a parent and the main bread winning of the family I can't afford to cut back on hours at work or take an educational leave. This quarter I'm taking a math class (with many more in my future.) When I took math in 2000 I didn't do so well. But this time, at about halfway through, I'm holding at about 92%, which is much more in line with how I did in high school than 2000 was. This class doesn't count at all though, other than to get me into pre-calculus, which will then get me into the needed calculus.
And for some reason it's not a surprise that even though the disability center director tries to meet with the autistic students at my school regularly as a group there's been no success at getting us all together so far this quarter. Maybe we'll meet before the winter break, maybe not.
Now I'm trying again with accomodations. I get to take tests in a quiet room and I get extra time so I'm not rushed (worrying about how much time is left can really slow you down, even more so when you sometimes have to read a question several times to understand it.) This didn't slow me much in high school but, as my AP teachers noticed when I bombed my AP tests, sometimes it did.
Since I'm working full time, I'm going to school part time (only one class at a time.) As a parent and the main bread winning of the family I can't afford to cut back on hours at work or take an educational leave. This quarter I'm taking a math class (with many more in my future.) When I took math in 2000 I didn't do so well. But this time, at about halfway through, I'm holding at about 92%, which is much more in line with how I did in high school than 2000 was. This class doesn't count at all though, other than to get me into pre-calculus, which will then get me into the needed calculus.
And for some reason it's not a surprise that even though the disability center director tries to meet with the autistic students at my school regularly as a group there's been no success at getting us all together so far this quarter. Maybe we'll meet before the winter break, maybe not.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Over stimulation
Sometimes I feel sorry for my wife.
Yesterday we went shopping at a discount grocery store almost 20 miles from home. This was intended to be a major shop for a month's worth of groceries.
By the end of the shopping I was tired, run down and having a hard time finding a good safe stim that didn't drive her crazy. (I tried to click the clicker pen I had about half way through or so, but it got on her nerves quickly.)
Really it was a combination of several things. Stores seem to always have lots and lots of bright florescent lights. Even with sunglasses on I can only take a certain amount of time in that kind of environment, and we were there for over 4 hours. Those who've known me a long time know that I've always disliked bright light, always hid for as much of the daylight hours as I could get away with.
Add to this the stress of being around tons of people I don't know (the store was packed) and tons of physical discomfort from being on my feet that long (I have hypermobile joints, it hurts to be on my feet without a break for that long.) Put it all together and by the time we got home it took lots of effort to get through just putting away the perishable foods (the rest were left sitting on the kitchen floor to deal with later.)
And that was my Sunday. We got started late, so nothing that I'd planned or hoped to do got done. Well, atleast I got a good foot massage before bed.
Yesterday we went shopping at a discount grocery store almost 20 miles from home. This was intended to be a major shop for a month's worth of groceries.
By the end of the shopping I was tired, run down and having a hard time finding a good safe stim that didn't drive her crazy. (I tried to click the clicker pen I had about half way through or so, but it got on her nerves quickly.)
Really it was a combination of several things. Stores seem to always have lots and lots of bright florescent lights. Even with sunglasses on I can only take a certain amount of time in that kind of environment, and we were there for over 4 hours. Those who've known me a long time know that I've always disliked bright light, always hid for as much of the daylight hours as I could get away with.
Add to this the stress of being around tons of people I don't know (the store was packed) and tons of physical discomfort from being on my feet that long (I have hypermobile joints, it hurts to be on my feet without a break for that long.) Put it all together and by the time we got home it took lots of effort to get through just putting away the perishable foods (the rest were left sitting on the kitchen floor to deal with later.)
And that was my Sunday. We got started late, so nothing that I'd planned or hoped to do got done. Well, atleast I got a good foot massage before bed.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Doing too much
It's so easy sometimes to do too much without taking a break to recharge.
Right now my wife and I are trying to fix up a second property that we own to sell it. It's a lot of hard work, and I try to help as much as I can, but I've found myself doing too much way too often.
See when you are autistic you need to take more breaks than others. But it often feels bad, because this is only the case when working on something that is not a special interest. And sometimes it can seem like the others (even those who know about autism) are resentful of your need to rest more often. So it's easy to end up in a total fog, unable to think.
It's pretty easy to tell when I'm doing too much. My language skills start to get poor. I'm slow to respond to requests and can't think for myself. Once dinner showed up and was set out for everyone to just grab some when they were hungry. I was sitting down by where the food was and didn't notice the food, or that I was hungry, until my wife told me to eat after the food was half gone.
Right now my wife and I are trying to fix up a second property that we own to sell it. It's a lot of hard work, and I try to help as much as I can, but I've found myself doing too much way too often.
See when you are autistic you need to take more breaks than others. But it often feels bad, because this is only the case when working on something that is not a special interest. And sometimes it can seem like the others (even those who know about autism) are resentful of your need to rest more often. So it's easy to end up in a total fog, unable to think.
It's pretty easy to tell when I'm doing too much. My language skills start to get poor. I'm slow to respond to requests and can't think for myself. Once dinner showed up and was set out for everyone to just grab some when they were hungry. I was sitting down by where the food was and didn't notice the food, or that I was hungry, until my wife told me to eat after the food was half gone.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Busy week
Last week was a busy one for me.
It was my son's last week of summer school. He was there not because he'd failed anything, but as a way of making the transistion to next year easier. The first half his old teacher was there, and the second half was lead by the teacher he'll have in the fall. So now his new teacher will not be a surprise, and he dislikes surprises more than I do.
Early in the week I finally met with someone from the Services for Students with Disabilites (or SSD) office. My past attempts at college have ended in failure, but they say that third time's the charm. But then this time I also have a diagnosis and with that access to accomodations. After the meeting I took my placement test again. This time was different than when I did it 7 years ago. I used one of the private testing rooms available in the SSD office. Not only was I in a quiet room (thankfully not elbow to elbow with a bunch of noisy fellow students) but I was able to turn the light off, ridding myself of the horrid abuse known as florescent lights. I placed at the max level for English, and did better than before on Math (but still not as high as I'd have wished.) Now all I need to do is get registered for class and start learning.
Last week ended with getting married. That may not appear to have much to do with autism, but it does. I got married. I, an autistic adult who has troubles in social situations, am now married. So for those of you who are parents of autistic boys, and those of you who are autistic men who are still single, IT CAN BE DONE. The hard part is finding someone who cares for you the way you are. Someone who will try to understand you, but not try to make you "normal" at the same time.
It was my son's last week of summer school. He was there not because he'd failed anything, but as a way of making the transistion to next year easier. The first half his old teacher was there, and the second half was lead by the teacher he'll have in the fall. So now his new teacher will not be a surprise, and he dislikes surprises more than I do.
Early in the week I finally met with someone from the Services for Students with Disabilites (or SSD) office. My past attempts at college have ended in failure, but they say that third time's the charm. But then this time I also have a diagnosis and with that access to accomodations. After the meeting I took my placement test again. This time was different than when I did it 7 years ago. I used one of the private testing rooms available in the SSD office. Not only was I in a quiet room (thankfully not elbow to elbow with a bunch of noisy fellow students) but I was able to turn the light off, ridding myself of the horrid abuse known as florescent lights. I placed at the max level for English, and did better than before on Math (but still not as high as I'd have wished.) Now all I need to do is get registered for class and start learning.
Last week ended with getting married. That may not appear to have much to do with autism, but it does. I got married. I, an autistic adult who has troubles in social situations, am now married. So for those of you who are parents of autistic boys, and those of you who are autistic men who are still single, IT CAN BE DONE. The hard part is finding someone who cares for you the way you are. Someone who will try to understand you, but not try to make you "normal" at the same time.
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