Archive for July, 2008

Setting a waking habit

Monday, July 28th, 2008

In three weeks our son goes off to college! He has 8am and 8:30am classes but has spent most of his summer waking at noon to play World of Warcraft until after midnight. (He did have other activities such as camping and horse riding.) Throughout most of high school, I woke him and with much effort. I won’t be in the dorm to wake him. Of course we fear he will simply sleep through the first few weeks of college and get so far behind that he fails out in the first semester.

We have set a new rule in the house. If he doesn’t get up on his own by the designated time (we are working toward 7am or 6:30am) and be dressed in clean clothing, preferably with a bath, he does not get computer access for the entire day. So far, he is two for two! World of Warcraft is quite the motivator! Lets hope that by August 16th the habit is formed.

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Posted in Daily Life, Education | No Comments »

Michael Savage Thinks Your Child is a Brat

Monday, July 21st, 2008

Michael Savage thinks autism is the parents fault.

Michael Savage … characterized nearly every autistic child as "a brat who hasn’t been told to cut the act out." [Source, The New York Times, Savage Stands by Autism Remarks]

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Posted in Of Interest | 10 Comments »

Restrained Response

Tuesday, July 15th, 2008

Today in the New York Times:

Dr. Miller learned that Tim, who has Asperger’s syndrome, was being unusually confrontational in class, and that more than once teachers had held him down on the floor to “calm him down,” according to logs teachers kept to track his behavior; on at least one occasion, adults held Tim prone for 20 minutes until he stopped struggling. [Source, The New York Times,Calm Down or Else]

Wow! Do I ever remember those times. Of course, I don’t remember ever considering a lawsuit. The restraints are just something that had to happen at those times. Everyone was simply trying to figure out how to help the child. Granted, forcefully restraining a sensory sensitive person isn’t really going to help. We found distraction helped the best. In the case of child melting down, say tearing up a classroom, often removing the audience helped more than a basket hold. Restraint server a purpose of trying to keep the teachers and the children safe, but they aren’t therapeutic.

Posted in Education, Legal | 2 Comments »