March 26, 2012

Outside Temp: 37 F (a little chilly today, clear... then foggy... then clear... then rain... then foggy... The weather couldn't make up it's mind today.)

What I cooked today:
Tacos: Of course, after the meat was cooked and spiced, and the refried beans were heated up, and the tortillas were warming in the oven, I looked in the fridge and there was no cheese.  I looked up at my husband and asked, "Did you eat all the Cheddar cheese?"... uhhh, maybe... So, we settled for mozzarella cheese.  It was fine, but I still glared at my husband during dinner.

Update:
It's Monday, so Ryan had speech therapy at 8am.  Which means that I have to, not only get the 3 other kids ready, but myself and Ryan.  Sure, no problem.  I'm pretty spoiled anyway, so doing this once a week isn't all that bad.  But, we discussed next year today, and we'll probably have him go to school in the mornings until 11ish (or so).  So, I'd better be happy not getting him ready for the next 6 weeks.  Next year, it will be very different. 

I talked with Ryan's speech therapist today about a conference that she went to over the weekend on Autism and Aspergers kids (like Ryan, and Allen, and Patrick and pretty much all my kids!).  She brought me her notes, so I could look over them.  There were some descriptions of how Asperger's people can overreact or react inappropriately.  So, being the good mom I am, I discussed some of these over dinner.

Our favorites were:

One Sided Sid: The conversation is only about you.
Glass-Man: Overreacts emotionally to insults or criticisms
Destroyer of Fun: So competitive that it's no longer fun to play

The best part of the conversation was that these were generally perceived as negative personality traits, i.e. traits that you would prefer not to have.  Yet, my kids (and husband) were competing on who had the most traits and which traits each could claim as ones they exhibited.  I never claimed that my family was normal.  Allen's claim tonight was that while Patrick is obviously Aspergers, Allen was 'tempered' Asperger's, since he wasn't as bad as his father. 

Part of the conference covered the concept of a Perception Taker, which I understand to be your ability to recognize how other people see the world.  I was talking to Patrick about the different levels of impairment regarding this, and while he was appearing to listen, apparently wasn't listening well.  I said, "I think that you are an Impaired Interactive Perception Taker", (which was the most normal of the options, while still being Aspergers).  He looked at me like I was talking Greek, and said, "What did you say?  That sounded like 4 random words."  Which prompted me to respond, "Candle, Bunny, White, Truck.".  We both started cracking up, and the tears started running down my face.  It took about 10 minutes to get us back on track to explain what on earth an Impaired Interactive Perception Taker could mean.  I still don't think he got it, but he pretended to pay attention, so I had to give him credit for that.

The conversation ended with 3 kids laughing hysterically on the floor.  Ah, well, that's dinner at our house.  Discuss our mental abnormalities in a loving environment, and keep laughing!