Things I know

Today is Sans Pants & Bra Saturday!!
Which I shamelessy pinched from both Kelley and Shae.
Following on from Sans Pants & Bra Friday Evening.
Woop, woop.
Yeah, yeah, I know, I know TMI.
Get over it, I did *snort*

The Feral Aspie is distracting himself from the thunder - which isn't actually thunder but the construction of another multi-storey apartment building nearby but sounds like some Greek Goddess is chucking a tanty over the top of the house  - and is relaxing by blowing up zombies and skeletons.
Apologies to the Accidental Insect Pornographer, Kim, despite your high Klout level in Zombies when the zombie apocolypse starts I'll be hiding behind him!



The things I know are that my gorgeous boy is needing time out from mainstream school and this toenail was a blessing.
That I hesitated signing off to not register to homeschool again next year (you have to register each year in Victoria).
That maybe I'll register again just in case and look to part-time homeschooling/mainstream schooling for taking the pressure off.
That things got so bad a few weeks back that my beautiful, clever Aspie told me he was considering suicide.
And that he'd thought of different ways to do it.
That I watch him like a hawk, surreptitiously, and worry each time he walks out the door to go to school.
That the TV show Glee the other night proved my point when Santana was called out on her bullying, that she was feeling so miserable inside and was trying to make others feel the same misery.
That there is a horrible epidemic amongst our gorgeous kids that are making them so angry and unfullfilled with themselves that they are destroying each other just to survive.
That the mental health system sucks hairy dogs' balls.
That I have my splendid, happy boy right at this moment in time and that makes everything right in the world.

Don't ever let yourself get painted beige by bullies

Good grief, I turn around and another month flies past without me posting over here!
To be honest, we've had some great ups and some very dark downs with the Feral Aspie teen.

He loves school, wants to go all the time and really puts his all into his work.
The teachers have no complaints with him and he gets along really well with those in Years 10, 11 and 12.
If he could go to school and just learn, everything would be prefect.

Unfortunately there is a plethora of personalities and types at school; some of them are so uncomfortable in their own skin and have no confidence to let their spirits soar and shine that they bully others who are anything other than average.
You know, paint yourself beige to blend in and don't be too clever or too knowledgable or achieve good marks or do anything that might make you stand out.

So, couple this with Feral Aspie teen who is a walking, talking encyclopedia, who has completed 5 university units and, while he forgets to use shampoo on his hair whilst under the shower, he can recall Every.Little.Detail about arguments/discussions/lessons/events/docos so much so that he spits them back out verbatim.

Which doesn't help him paint himself beige.
And nor does he want to become beige.
He is who he is; his spirit will soar and shine and he will achieve whatever he hell he wants, despite the measly little creatures who have anchored their souls to the floor of the budgie cage and are too scared to unchain their potential to fly free.

Of course, we have glorious, wonderful Dunolly to restore his happy.
We now own a caravan at the caravan park, a little home away from home which Feral Aspie teen finds is just perfect for him.
Instead of him going on the school camp where he won't get a break for 5 days from any niggles or bullying or even mild, joking teasing (which could easily turn into a fully flamed argument) we've offered to take him to spend that week at Dunolly.
Which he jumped at, of course.

Go read a great post on the troubles with bullies by Madam Bipolar.
Yes, bullying has been around for a long time and only recently have schools really started to take it seriously because of the long-term consequences....except those very same long-term consequences were there all along.
We look towards the future of our fragile youth who are bullied but don't forget to take a peep back over our shoulders at those who are still struggling with those consequences.

Confessions of a bored blogger

I have a confession to make.
I haven't blogged here for ages cos I found life...everything... boring.
Same old, same old; monumental meltdowns coupled with calls to emergency services, smashed up house, asking for help...and stress.
Oh, yes, that added extra every parent needs.
That was sarcasm dripping on the keyboard if you didn't notice.

If I found the whole thing as stimulating as watching bat shit dry, what could I offer you to read...the back of a cereal packet?

My gorgeous Feral Aspie teen has started back at mainstream school.
Thereby hangs a tale of mystery.
Through a series of events/circumstances/comments/attitudes, etc, he did not start at his school until AFTER the bully (who nearly caused him to have a complete breakdown in primary school) was EXPELLED from the very same school.
My Dad was looking after his beloved grandson.
This child of mine has laughed at ribbing earning grudging respect...he has come back with funny responses when someone has given him lip....he has been polite, well-mannered with his teachers....he has corrected smartarses who tried to prove him wrong in front of teachers (who backed him up), yesterday he braved name-calling on the bus to liberate some terracotta pots from hard rubbish for me.

Then this morning we got a call to tell us how much he is liked at school.
How much his teachers like him and like having him in their classes.
How impressed they are with his academic work.
How much the other kids like him.
How some have dubbed him "the coolest dude".

Our lives changed with his diagnosis at age 2, it changed again when he faced so many challenges at the start of school, then our existence changed again when the bullying got out of control for which I began homeschooling him.
Again our lives changed following his head injury and his behavioural change.
After 4 years of homeschooling he was ready to return to mainstream school and, through serendipity (his Pa watching over him) we found him the right school that was the right fit, with small classes, at the right time.

The sun is shining despite the pouring rain outside my window.
Our life has changed again after the phone call this morning.
My boys beautiful nature is having a chance to shine through once more.

Prue! Ohhhh, Prue?! Prue?

Prue.
Petal, poppet, possum, I mean , come on, Prue, sweetie.
Where did you leave your brains?
Honestly!
"Integrate people in a controlled environment" ???
Really??? Are you serious??
Last time I looked Life was pretty much fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kinda carnival ride, honey.
"Throw more money at the education system"....oh, Prue, you naive little snookums, I can see you haven't wandered too far into The Land of Special Needs Funding and Education.
They giveth on one hand and taketh away with the other.
Now, darls, this belief you keep blathering about special needs kids having to be separated from the general school population....didn't your mother ever tell you two important adages to live by?
If you can't say something nice, say nothing at all.
And
Tis better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.
I think you have some homework, Prue, best run along now and practice that word "S-o-r-r-y".

Bullying kids on the Spectrum bullshyte

See the happy kid to the left?
That's my Aspie teen, when we visited Beaufort last week, smiling, relaxed and happy.
When we saw the paediatrician this week the doc made the mistake of asking how long we'd been homeschooling.
The floodgates opened and Aspie teen began chattering away about the bully at his former school who'd made his life a misery.
Trying to calm him was useless; he was like a wind-up toy stuck on his track, having to see this through to the end, so he repeated every.little.thing the bully had done.
Even mentioning how he'd threatened to find our home address to come and kill Aspie teen.
4 years on and it was still uppermost in his mind.
And now I read this news article about yet another ASD kid being bullied not just by other students but by their parents!
WTF?
These 'adults' are meant to set the example by which their little darlings live.
Why the heck are ASD kids taught to mind their manners but these rude tossers have none?
I can only imagine karma will be snacking on their rumps once they become old and frail when their kids kick 'em to the kerb, having the same amount of respect for the elderly as they do for those with a disability.
Pfft, Christians?
Sounds like a little bit bullshyte.

Theory wins over practice

The spelling, the homework, trying to learn new words, holding the pencil the 'correct' way to write the 'correct' way, how to pronounce words 'correctly'...every little thing was a battle and seen as an attack on his routine.

Sunnies aren't just cool

Loving the hugs from my son.
Tactile issues put up a huge wall stopping hugs for a long time.
The more anxiety he had to cope with the less he could tolerate touch.
The anxiety over-ran his life and dictated his behaviours, ruled by an ethereal non-physical thing from afar, the whole family held within its grip twisting us here and there at the whims of those who'd crank up the anxiety metre.