We became accustomed to using American Sign Language(ASL) in our home. I don’t think twice about signing to Tristan out in public. I would often get a better response from Tristan when using ASL instead of verbal communication. In addition, I used ASL in my job at the local school in the special education classes. Children in the general education classes were familiar with ASL. I knew the rest of the population doesn’t communicate in ASL, and one day I was reminded of this.
Continue readinghumor
Movie Mix-Up
We love to take Tristan to a movie theater 45 minutes from our home. We love this old theater because the movie ticket prices are cheaper than the typical cost. In addition, the snacks are the least expensive I have ever seen at a movie theater. The theater has assigned seats for the tickets. I like this because we can plan the best spot for our family.
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To add adventure to our life…the place is in a different time zone.
At first, we were careful about coordinating the time to arrive. One time Brian and I showed up at the wrong time. The theater was generous in switching the tickets. We had to wait a bit but for us, it was no big deal.
About a month ago, we planned a movie trip. There were not many titles playing. Tristan clearly communicated to us with his device he wanted a movie. Actually, he mostly wanted the snacks. His request goes like this: popcorn, pop, chips, and cheese, movie theater.
I scrolled the movie list and settled on a non-typical choice. Brian and I previewed the trailer to see if it might hold Tristan’s attention. After agreeing it might work, we ordered tickets. We did the math and headed out the door in a few minutes. The timing was perfect!
We arrived 45 minutes later at the theater. As we walked in, I noticed there was no line at the food counter. I felt like we arrived at the wrong time. I looked at my phone for the time. I glanced at the movie times. I looked at Brian and said, “Oh no we arrived an hour late. The movie had already started. It is halfway done.”
We quickly conversed about our next plan of action. Realizing Tristan does not always make it through the movie I said, “Let’s get our snacks and watch the ending of the movie. Tristan has not made it to the end of the last several movies. He will not realize half the movie has played. Honestly, he is here for the snacks anyway.”
We proceeded to order our usual snack list and went into the theater.
Tristan thoroughly enjoyed the action-packed movie! He never realized half the movie had already played. By the time he finished his snacks, the movie was over. The movie mix-up turned out to be a success!
Enjoy another healthy dose of laughter from our home!
The Great Debate
We took Tristan to his weekly restaurant request –McDonald’s. Tristan loves his order of chicken nuggets, french fries, chocolate milk, and a cookie. Not to mention the barbeque sauce. He loves McDonald’s sauce. In fact, we used to request several packets of bbq sauce with each order. He trained us! Then the amount got a little bit out of control. We scaled back and offered ketchup instead. This worked for a while.
Continue readingAlone! Not As I Planned
I had an activity all planned for Tristan. The nighttime Easter egg hunt. It is a neat activity to do. I loaded the 20 easter eggs with mini LED lights and placed them in the FRONT yard. Ooohhh it looked so pretty too!
Continue readingBack to the Toilet Paper…
Well, we can tell Tristan is feeling good! We are pleased that he is doing well. (It has been many months and doctor appointments to get to this level of success!) Some signs and behaviors seem to rise when he is happy.
First of all, he has no concept of the value of a roll of toilet paper during these supply chain issues! He unrolled one roll and tried flushing it down the toilet. When I went to tell Brian during my conversation, Tristan ran to the second bathroom. He tried unrolling and flushing a double roll. Immediately, I said, “No, Tristan, we are not doing that.” His reaction was to smile. He fully understands spoken words.
Next, he found an “important paper” in his bedroom. He ran to the kitchen grabbed a marker and scissors. Then he drew a house and quickly cut it out, and taped it on the patio door. He thought he had found an essential paper that he should not have had. It was actually a scrap piece of paper! The artist in him returned. Contentment has swept over him again.
Enjoy the lighter side of autism from our family!
Who You Gonna Call?
When Tristan was about 6 years old he would NEVER sit. He was always on the move. I had to chase my ever growing non-verbal “toddler” every waking moment. Most of the time I felt more like a security guard instead of a mom. Or maybe a life guard on land(not that one really exists). If something looked dangerous he would gravitate towards it. This went on for years…
Tristan’s Favorite Pictures
When I hand Tristan my phone and let him scroll through the photos he always stops on two pictures. One day he pointed to what he was looking at. I shouldn’t have been surprised but I was. It was food! The chocolate milk in the first picture. The mac-n-cheese in the second picture.
Enjoy another healthy dose of laughter from our home!
If He Only Knew the Value!
I get a report from Tristan’s case manager on how his week went at his residential school and group home. In the email, he is reported as,
The Only Kid I Know…
Tristan is the only kid I know that will not watch the bowling ball roll down the alley to see what pins get knocked down! The more Brian and I said, “Watch the ball!” The more he looked the other way. At one point Tristan was even putting his bowling ball on the ramp and had his back to the lane. It’s like he knew what we wanted him to do and he was trying to show us you can bowl without watching!
Enjoy another healthy dose of laughter from our home!
The Label Peeler Strikes Again
My oldest son, Jacob, was working on a project in elementary school. He asked me for a glue stick. I went to the drawer where I kept permanent markers, tape, and glue sticks tucked away so Tristan wouldn’t get them. Jacob worked diligently on his assignment into the late evening. Jacob left it out to dry on the counter overnight.
The next morning I woke up and noticed the project on the counter. I could not believe what I saw.
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