When the student is ready . . .

Today is a perfectly marvelous late-March day -- 45 degrees, sunny with a clear blue sky, a fierce wind to keep me moving. Yes, I know it is not even mid-February, but I love every second of this. The dog wants to stay outside and so do I but it is all water, mud, and dirty snow. Not much for a dog or gardener to do.

Clarity is my motto this year, my mantra, my aim. I see some today, after being so glum yesterday. I get a glimpse, and maybe that is all we get. A glimpse, that diva we see out of the corner of our eye when we are not paying attention, the fairy that taps a shoulder when we are half asleep. I have to look quickly or maybe, attend quickly, because the clarity, the diva, the fairy steels back into the fog of midwinter. But today is all light and clarity. I have much rushing around to do and I do it with such joy.

I spent the morning with the autism expert for our social skills group, and boy, am I learning a lot. So many times when I have asked questions of experts, I get references to reading material which I love, but which do not address my little picky questions or answer my question 200 pages and 3 months later. As we are planning our group and building our training sessions, I have so many opportunities to ask those questions. And to hear about challenges, struggles, problems that other families face gives me so much insight.

At tomorrow's training, we are going to do an overview of strategies that work with kids with autism and/or aspergers. We are hoping that parents will be able to identify what works with their kids and what we can plan on doing. We are going to talk about the reason for a sensory diet! Something that had me very confused for months. LOL.

We are also going to try to have a frank and honest discussion about our kids' behaviors and needs. Dana told me that it might be rough or even impossible depending where parents are at accepting their kid's diagnosis, behaviors, etc. I realize how far I have come in a year, how far I have to go, and that I need to find a way to help others get to a good talking place. This group is not just about social skills for our kids but social skills among families who live with challenges. I don't know if it is even possible to do this work. We all need to come out of our enclosed safe places and share.

This is the same dilemma that I see on the adoption yahoo boards all the time. Parents (mothers) writing that their kids are doing great, adjusting and melting into their families with ease. Then finding out way later that those perfectly adjusting kids have issues with stealing or hording or never sleep.

I am wandering both on this screen and in my head. This is very exciting. It is a clear path, I have company along the path, but the way up ahead is very foggy.