"All that is gold does not glitter. Not all those who wander are lost."
~J.R.R.Tolkien

"It is with the utmost affection for my own children and autistic children everywhere that I share these stories."
~Scott

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

On the Spectrum #65: Merry Christmas, 2009!

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One of the biggest differences in my and DW's skill sets is that I speak 'Michael' and she speaks 'Jacob.' 'Michael' is pretty easy, actually, but I'm still better at deciphering what he means when he doesn't quite know how to say it. 'Jacob,' on the other hand, is a language that is made very complex by the fact that many of its words sound very similar to other words in English that have very different meanings. LOL. Anyway, in this kind of situation, I can usually figure Michael out, but I have a much harder time with Jacob. (DW... the exact opposite.)

(Oh yeah - and I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but when Jacob says "Yes," he ALWAYS adds on, "OK."  It's like one word, "Yesohkay!"  That thows a lot of people who assume he's saying "That's OK," which, if you think about it in context, means "No," when he's really saying "Yes."  You can imagine how frustrating that might be for him! LOL

ANYWAY... This is the last "OTS" update of 2009! So I'm done for this year. We'll be travelling, as we usually do on the holidays, through the 4th of January, so the next update won't be until 1/10/2010.
In the meantime, I hope everybody has a Merry Crispy, a safe a happy holiday and a safe and happy New Year!

See you in 2010!
~Scott

Monday, December 14, 2009

On the Spectrum #64: "C" is for "cookie"

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Why on earth do they from not saying anything at all, to repeating everything that they're not supposed to?

Oh well.

BTW, this is just the second appearance of "Wendy," Michael's teacher.  She last appeared waaay back in #12.

Monday, December 7, 2009

On the Spectrum #63: Inspiration can come from anywhere...

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We're back! Sorry it's been so long since I've updated! We had a great Thankgiving, but were out of town, and then once we were back one thing after another kept me from getting this one finihsed!

Two things about this one...

First - whenever I have a project around the house or outside, Michael is a GREAT helper. He follows directions, knows what tool is what, etc... He's really great at being that "third hand" that we all sometimes need. Much better than *ahem* DW, who has the uncanny, superhuman-ability to teleport herself roughly six miles away, just 0.3 seconds before I need her help. LOL. And since Michael's usually interested in what I'm doing anyway, he's ALWAYS around. (So I put him to work!) LOL

Which leads me to the Second thing - Usually, after doing something this, he will go and re-create it in some artistic media. Sometimes drawing, sometime clay or play-doh, sometime (as shown here) in Legoes. He does this with movies too - if he sees a scene he really likes, he'll go a recreate it with whatever he has handy. Quite imaginitive, and always a good opportunity to get him to tell us what he's doing... since most of the time we have no idea, at least at first! He made Comerica Park (where the Detroit Tigers play) out of Legoes one time. I must say, that was really cool.

Very creative. And you just never know what will strike him as inspiration! (He's as likely to make a Sump Pump or a Vacuum Cleaner as he is a Stadium or a Castle.)