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How To Tell If You Are Sharing Easter With A Teenage Boy
Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!
Until next time -
C
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How Temple Grandin And TED 2010 Helps Me Understand My Son
Years back some of you may remember when I finally got my answer as to what was going on with my son Brian’s learning. He was diagnosed with APD. When the Dr. read to me the common characteristics of these kids, I felt like she knew my son almost as well as I did.
Finally I had answers, and set forth a plan which allowed my son to thrive in school. Kids like my son with APD do not have a loss of hearing sensitivity, but have a hearing problem in the sense that they do not process auditory information normally.
This meant that everyone was now a tutor Brian, from my mother, my ex-husband to me. As I worked with Brian to help him come up with modifications to assist his learning (like always sitting at the front of class) I felt his APD was also more of a way he looked at the world, and a way in which he thought about how the world around him works.
He hates to write, but can tell stories. He loves Math and excels at it. He loves Honors Science and is fascinated by space. Reading bores him, but he can win a new video game in 24 hours. He likes computers, music, weight lifting, building stacks of things and drawing. He loves to work on comedy and is always trying to twist comebacks into something that gets a belly laugh. He has an amazing ability to memorize entire movies right down to quoting what was said. He likes anything that is new that challenges the way he thinks.
Sometimes his thoughts move faster than he can get them out of his mouth. His father and I have to remind him to take a breath so that is lips can catch up to the story he is sharing.
He is always in his head. It must be an amazing place.
Through all these years I have tried to understand why his mind works the way it does, and the other night I began to watch the new TED video releases from TED2010. By happenstance I clicked on one called, Temple Grandin: The world needs all kinds of minds.
Temple Grandin, Ph.D., is the most accomplished and well-known adult with autism in the world. She talks about how her mind works in this video. She shares her ability to “think in pictures,” which helps her solve problems that neuro-typical brains might miss. She makes the case that the world needs people on the autism spectrum: visual thinkers, pattern thinkers, verbal thinkers, and all kinds of smart geeky kids.
HBO has produced a full-length film on telling her story. She fascinates me, and gave me the answer to how my son’s brain works. After watching her video, I asked Brian how he sees problems and solves them. He casually answered, “I see them as images projected side by side or as random patterns I pull together into a clear picture.”
Oh.
My son thinks in patterns and pictures. No wonder he hates to write. He is not a bad writer, he just hates it.
This week instead of my usual parenting humor, I am sharing the TED video, because the world needs to understand how different minds work, especially those of our emerging children. And if you are struggling with your child in school, maybe this video will help you open up a conversation about how they view the world, and you may be lucky enough to gain an understanding of how their mind works. Trust me, you are in for a fun ride.
She is brilliant.
It gives us hope for the future. How I love TED videos.
Until next time -
C
The Secret People Behind Love Poems
Posted by Catherine, the redhead mom blogger on Jan 17, 2010 in Brian
“How was school today?”
“OK.”
Silence.
Silence.
“I had to do the dumbest thing ever in English.”
“Oh?”
“We had to write a love poem. (Big sigh) Who writes that crazy stuff anyways except for girls and old men?”
Until next time -
C
The Worst Kept Secret in America
Posted by Catherine, the redhead mom blogger on Sep 27, 2009 in Brian
“Brian, are you going to the Homecoming Dance?”
(See look of terror crossing teeage boy face)
“No. Why?”
“You don’t want to go?”
(Shrug of shoulders)
“I’d have to listen to girls all night.”
“That’s bad?”
“No, just exhausting.”
Until next time-
C
Why Football Season Makes For Bad Blogging
Posted by Catherine, the redhead mom blogger on Sep 20, 2009 in Brian
There are 4 drafts of posts just sitting in the back-end of this blog, waiting for me to finish them.
I just haven’t had a free moment. My son has given me much hilarious teenage fodder for this blog, but time has not been my friend in allowing me to complete my posts.
Just to give you an idea of what my life has been like, I leave you with these -
Could you say no to that face?
Thus he keeps me crazy busy.
Until next time -
C
http://www.aweekinthelifeofaredhead.com
Photography by Ray Mabry.
An Afternoon In The Life of Teenage Boys
Posted by Catherine, the redhead mom blogger on Jul 12, 2009 in Brian
In the beginning there were four clean teenage boys at the beach.
And clothed.
Then the dog headed for cover.
Because she sensed what was coming.
But one was not enough.
Thus we see what teenage boy bliss looks like.
Until next time-
C
The Mom
