I will admit that quarantine has been rough but not in the way that you would think. So many things flying around. For my business I am the essential worker and can work from home because I work for myself. Throw in homeschooling, trying to create new books, research, learn new programs and trying to create a new line along with the magazine, it's a bit much. Doodle being home and having to monitor her while she works it not easy.
I made Doodle plant a garden. Lots of vegetables are sprouting. I think she's more interested in the pumpkins that she's planted. The plants are thriving and I'm glad about that. We are also working on a few of the things that she's got to accomplish for the next school year IEP. I want to make sure that she masters her tasks faster. She misses school and right now so do I. I was overwhelmed with it at first because getting into the program was hard but leaving out of the program I have a new respect for it. Though I have had to take over the work for the speech therapists, something I have never been good at. When Doodle was doing speech therapy for Easter Seals I would sit behind the two way mirror and watch how Candace worked with her. It was amazing the tricks she would use and I would try the same thing at home. But home is a different environment and was harder to keep Doodle on task. We have been receiving excess work through the portal to help work on speech at home. Summer homework if you will. We received ways to do OT at home as well and I've been using art classes with Cassie Stephens as a way to incorporate a little more OT.
I have been debating about creating a few video's for my website. But that means that I will be in front of the camera and that I'm not comfortable with. But in order to keep my Grumbacher certification I'm going to need to do this. I have a few ideas. Not sure if I am going to be able to do what I want to do without contacting a few companies so that if I teach glow in the dark paintings I will be able too.
As for the isolation, that really doesn't bother me because raising a child on the spectrum, I've been isolating since before she was diagnosed. It was hard taking Doodle out in public. She was fun and cute and all when she was a bitty. As she got older it became harder, all the sounds and commotions. When Doodle was at the school that taught her how to learn and grow they took trips out in the area to learn how not to wander off. How to stay close and how to shop. Loved that! Wish the school she currently goes to does that, but we can't have it all anymore.
Doodle is doing great being at home with homeschooling. Now that home school is done I would have more time to do everything but that's kind of hard cause she gets wild and loud. So I'm concerned about doing video's. I will see what I can do with how I can do it.
So I was watching my news source on Thursday night and found out that there was a new trend going around. It's called the autism and people dance like they are mentally inept. I don't find it funny as my dad had a brother that was completely disabled and depended on my grandparents until his death in his 40's. That was hard on everyone in the family because he was so loved. It's hard on Doodle as she knows with the video's she finds on YouTube that autism is something you call people as the word retarded has been replaced with autistic. I don't think that's funny that people create videos like that. Calling people names just isn't cool. Using autistic as a slur isn't cool, neither is using the word retarded. You would think as a civilization we would be beyond 2nd grade behaviors.
And what I don't get is how people don't realize how dangerous it is to do what is trending. I know they are looking to become famous in their own mind but coming up with your own thing and thinking for yourself makes you famous. But showing disrespect to others is not how you become famous. That will come back and bite you in the butt. If you do become "famous" eventually, those old video's will be thrown back up in your face. Even if you delete the video no matter what the internet is forever. A 40 something year old mom should not have to be the one to tell you that. But I do spend a lot of time observing the world around me and that includes the internet. There are a lot of autism moms trying to get the video's to stop so I can say that this is not a fight I'm willing to fight on. If it happens in public while I am around then I will say something to their faces but til then I have other battles and a life of my own. I don't have time to be a keyboard warrior for something that will be like oh I've got lots of comments but I don't care what they say.
For the person who actually created the word autistic and autism to be a slur word that would be Paul Watson. People screaming in the streets over Trump being elected president, he said they were autistic screaming. So thanks for that one ya jerk! And that's what spawned all the videos of other people creating videos using the word autistic as a slur word. Doodle doesn't know any better and mimic what others are doing on YouTube. Through isolation she has finally learned that her disability is being used as a slur. And that led to her being sad about her diagnoses when she was 3. So there's that. It's just a lot of damage control on my part because the internet is so large. I don't see anything wrong with autism. There are a lot of people with autism that I look up too and admire. Dr. Temple Grandin, Dan Aykroyd (my favorite actor and writer), Patrick who works at the book store down the street from my house and my own child who I think is the bees knees. They all think differently and that's beautiful to me. They are out there creating new things, shaping the world for the good. The list is longer but I'm not going to bore you with that as it will get lengthy.
So there is my take and those are my struggles. Considering that today is Saturday and not Monday that you are receiving this blog, shows you that time is but a number and it's a number I can't keep up with. I'm not sinking in a little boat, I'm bailing out the Titanic with the way I feel about all the things that I have to get accomplished. It's just not easy and I don't see the Michaels classroom opening up too soon as they have transitioned to Zoom videos for people to sign up for. Some of the videos are dark and hard to keep up with. Not the professionalism that you would expect for anyone doing a class for Michaels. My classroom is closed and being used as a storage room for excess orders. Yes that bothers me. But it bothers me more that Michaels has turned it's back on instructors yet again. Last time that happened, all the instructors were kicked out of the Michaels classrooms and contracts were lost. Many instructors were upset and left even Grumbacher. Many flourished and basically gave Michaels the finger. Creating their own studios and make ore money then when we were in the classroom. So there is no point in being mad at change. Just embrace it and work through it.
Wow, I didn't expect to tackle so many issues today but here I am. On a soap box with my mind just throwing dirt out there everywhere! Let's start a new trend called the neurotypical where we do videos to teach others how to lift people up and give confidence and love and not bring others down.
See you guys on the flip side.
