Test

Begin again...

O.K., I know it's been awhile. I tried to enjoy my summer, playing and hanging out with my kids, and I did! My summer was jam packed with activities and wonderful memories. I lacked motivation though to work on Zach's school work, leftover papers and wrapping up records for his freshman year. But, alas, I made it through at the last minute. He finished good. But I still have yet to teach him to WRITE a paper. Essay, yes. That he can do. I feel I have fallen behind myself and have let him down for not achieving this yet. My intentions were there, I get just as burned out as he does, and we both need some break. Zach finished summer P.E. and worked on Algebra review and language arts review Monday-Thursday. Today was an eye opener. I'm on the brink of loosing it and have been knocked back what feels like to the day he was diagnosed with Dyspraxia. This horrible disability that in one afternoon can take what seems like everything away. I'm angry, scared, frustrated, and walking into a black hole. Zach has tried to be sneaky and it just came to light today. We started his "spelling" class since school starts this Wednesday. Boy was I grounded and fast. Again, did I do enough up until this point? Did I slack this summer? I need to suck all these feelings in and move forward, be positive and never take my eye off of him. follow through everything if I'm going to achieve my goal of a self sustainable young man. This is another begin again, and I'll make it through, I always do.

Math

I have to vent about math. Zach's doing good, that's not the problem. He just HATES it! He starts to get very upset and frustrated as soon as we sit down to work. His short term memory difficulties pop up like every third day and I have to remind him...negative and a negative is a positive. positive and a negative is a negative. Which direction to go on a number line if your adding two negative numbers. He frequently slips up his multiplication and addition. He knows the difference of course but what he sees and what his brain processes are two different things. -5 divided by 25 can be so upsetting. But then...I say it out loud, Zach that's easy..-5 divided by 25 and he throws his arms up and gets upset with himself! It's ok...move on, I say. We celebrated Mother's Day today by working on two hours of Polynomial work. I had to stand by to remind him here or there about these small things, yet writing out the work on a long division polynomial comes very easy to him. That's how I know he's learning. I don't let the little things bother me. I just want him to know that.

Always looking

http://www.karifisher.net/

I found a new blog today that is written by Kari Fisher...not to be confused with the Carrie Fischer who portrays our beloved Princess Leia from the Star Wars series. I like to find and read any other information I can find about Dyspraxia. Of course, to me at this point, it is like listening to a horrible scratched record. (Don't get me wrong. She has a great blog.) It hurts my brain to read over and over again the symptoms, causes, and effects of this disability. I've SEEN it...I don't want to hear about it again from the beginning! I want to talk about what comes next...what outlook do I have to look forward to and how to deal with it. Of course I would help anyone who needed it.  Or maybe they just had a diagnosis and had questions. I want to spread the word and bring attention to it, but we need more than just what to look for from infancy...What can we do as the years go by? I'm proud of my son. He has Dyspraxia. He's going to be great. Just watch me get him there.

trying 3-D shapes

Today I was going to show you some of Zach's art work. Art, especially 3-D art is very difficult for children with Dyspraxia. But let me tell you, they make the coolest 2-D art you'll ever see! I started Zach in art class when I started homeschooling him in 4th grade and he has taken it ever since. I enrolled him because art is like occupational therapy. It keeps the brain connecting and thinking. 

Getting closer to the Finish Line

I've been down for awhile with a sinus infection and when that happens Zach suffers. I usually help him study for his tests, but with a horrible headache it makes it impossible. We trudged through spring break and did pretty well since I was able to micro-manage him. What I mean by that is being able to constantly say...""Did you get it done?....Are you doing it now?"" Like every 5-10 minutes I have to cross his path to make sure he is reading or writing. Otherwise he will space out and accomplish nothing.

With a renewed sense of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, being May and all, I am very upbeat about his work. I always get excited this time of year! I have a feeling of...You did it!!! (We did it!) Of course Zach likes to count down the days too! He celebrates his birthday Memorial weekend and what a perfect time to do so.

This Easter we went to visit our new baby niece, Abbie. Abbie is nine months old and lives four hours away, so we have missed quite a few milestones. She is adorable and she immediately took to Zach. Honestly she wanted nothing to do with anyone but him! I LOVED seeing it. I felt reassured that someday he would be a great Dad and that all the natural instincts a dad would need to be a great father. He took every opportunity to hold, feed, and adore her.

Deadlines

Zach has been focusing quite a bit on math lately and consequently has let other subjects lapse. Tonight, right before bed, I noticed he had a simple 250 word essay due tomorrow in Geography. Not even started yet! He is behind in several projects not to mention English I, where he is behind 5 or so lessons and quizzes. I have been working hard on teaching Zach how to write a paper, yet he still avoids it like the plague! Spring break is next week, but there won't be any break for him (us)!

msnbc.com U.S. & World News - Is a culture of academic overachievement hurting our students? Are too much testing and homework putting our kids on a "Road to Nowhere" as the title of the documentary film suggests?

I've had a very stressful couple of days. Now I read this and it doesn't help my situation! This is why I have had to pull my son out of school.



msnbc.com U.S. & World News - Is a culture of academic overachievement hurting our students? Are too much testing and homework putting our kids on a "Road to Nowhere" as the title of the documentary film suggests?

Long weekend

I woke up to a very gloomy Presidents day! Thunder, lightening, and alot  of rain. I'm very stressed already, even before I rolled out of bed, over the fact that Zach had a four and a half day weekend. Getting him back to work...efficiently, can be daunting. Zachary has a few projects on his agenda that are behind and he has a sneaky way of avoiding them! Since I am helping paint my Mother's new apartment, we wont be catching up in the next three days and he KNOWS it! On an up note, Zachary bowled a 131, 118, and 158 yesterday! His highest is 189, and I know in the next year he will break 200. He's looking good at bowling and seems to really enjoy it.


Last night we hosted our churches youth group at our home! It was so nice to have the kids here. Zachary has missed church all this year because bowling is at the same time. Youth group is usually held right after service when Zach is still bowling. The Leaders of our group wanted to include Zach and decided on a Sunday night get together. Everyone seemed to enjoy it! I LOVE knowing Zach can be himself around his church friends. Something every dyspraxic parent DREAMS about! Not an easy road to get to, but IT CAN HAPPEN!

planning ahead

Today I visited with Zachary's counselor about what classes he would take at the public school next year. I always get nervous when I need to talk about his progression. I ramble on for what seems like way to long. He will be taking three classes next year. Biology cwc, media technology, and consumer science split with digital art. The Biology will be tough. Zachary cannot take notes and stresses out when taking tests. He feels uneasy when he has to write or read in front of others, so this will be a good test run. The counselor is wonderful, after years of frustation and let downs, I feel this group of educators understands. I'm not saying its smooth sailing, but they are willing to help him succeed. We will not know until the end of this year if they will accept his home school  credits towards his public school degree. I just need to keep on track with his records here at home. I have faith it will work out. ( This is what Zachary wants).

Zachary has tried it all. He has gone from public school to home school. private Catholic school back to home school and finally has settled in on part time public and full time home school. This has been a trial and error process, painful at times, but balanced in the end.

I have attached a link to a Yahoo Dyspraxia Digest, where you can search for help by other parents with Dyspraxic children. I read the posts, but hardly respond to help. I read their stories and I always start to shake and cannot come up with the words that might seem to help. Facing it head-on is always a challenge for me.

DyspraxiaFamilies

My first posting!

I have been thinking about doing this for years. I tell myself there must be other parents out there whose going through the same experience as me. The truth is I'm still afraid to talk about it, even after 14 years. I really do not want to retell my whole story from the beginning, but rather immerse bits and pieces of it while I write about my week with my son. If I have started this sooner, it would have been easier to spot difficulties and obstacles over the years. I never wanted to take away any time from my son for which I could be helping him learn, so I never did. He's older now, and a freshman in high school and I have a little breathing room and here it is! Let me introduce you to my son, Zachary.
He is a strapping young man of almost 15 years. He is 6 foot tall and 215 pounds. He loves History and computers and has been bowling since the 4th grade. He is a homeschool student and attends public school too. I am very proud of my Dyspraxic son! And he deserves all the happiness in the world.