More Amazingness in Continued Flying Car Lesson

He had a riding lesson this morning and we have family coming to stay this afternoon so the best time to squeeze in a lesson was at 8:30 this morning right after breakfast. He seemed a little hungry after breakfast so I told him he would have more to eat (pie) in our lesson. Because he can be a little more irritable and sensitive in the morning, I kept my voice low and my deameanor really low-key. I've also figured out how to flip the boards up and down without using my whole arm, kind of by using my thumb and fingers as a hub for the board to pivot on. I also did not have the fan on and tried to preempt so much getting up by taking my time scooping up the pie and starting to read while doing so. He only got up four times in 40 minutes so let's see if this continues to help in future sessions.

Since he told me yesterday that he's reading the answers, I didn't spell a single word for him, and some of them were really tough. I also was able to bundle two questions together for one bite of pie, twice, by rapidly asking the next question.

He is totally amazing me by his resilience in being able to spell any time of day! It will be interesting to see how he does when we have a house full of people.

Spell COMPANY

Spell RESEMBLES 

Spell EXPOSED

What is the name of the company that is producing the Fancraft? 

URBAN AERONAUTICS

Who is their vice president of marketing? 

JANINA FRANKEL-YOELI

Name one trait of a classic flying car that Frankel-Yoeli mentioned. 

DOESN'T HAVE AN EXPOSED ROTOR 

(pk) What does the abbreviation 'sci-fi' stand for? 

SCIENCE FICTION

Name another genre of movies from the A-I board.

ACTION 

(pk) What is Griffin's favorite movie series that he watches all the time?

STAR WARS

Spell EARLIER

Spell OWNING 

Spell SOLUTION

According to Frankel-Yoeli, what did earlier flying cars need to take off and land? 

RUNWAYS

What does the word constituent mean? 

BEING PART OF A WHOLE

Name one solution that Urban Aeronautics has come up with so that no runways are required for take-off and landing? 

TO USE LIGHTWEIGHT COMPOSITE MATERIALS 

Can you think of an example of a composite material from the A-I board? 

CONCRETE

(pk) Concrete is a blend of ________, ________, and ________.

CEMENT SAND WATER

Spell CHALLENGING 

Spell ADJUSTMENTS

What does a ducted fan design refer to? 

PROPELLERS HOUSED IN AERODYNAMIC TUBES

What takes over the adjustments that are needed to keep a the Fancraft stable at high speeds? 

COMPUTER AIDED CONTROL TECHNOLOGY

160 km/h is equal to how many mph? 

NINETY NINE POINT FOUR

Then 320 km/h would be equal to how many mph? 

ONE HUNDRED NINETY EIGHT POINT EIGHT

A New Wow Every Day!

(The most amazing part of today is hidden in the last paragraph.) Yesterday was amazing and I feel like I am pretty good at taking any story and making up questions on the fly, and it was really meaningful to teach Sam about his grandfather yesterday, but now I can see the value of having prepared lessons with the questions typed out ahead of time. To give myself a break today, and also to test to see if my not taking the time to come up with questions would reduce the number of times Sam got up (and I had to go retrieve him), I used a wonderful purchased lesson about flying cars.

First cool thing is that today he had very little trouble with "I" and "R" but really struggled a lot with "L". It was almost like he couldn't even see it.

He got up ten times during the hour-long lesson and I'm going to have to investigate to see if having the fan right on him the whole time is causing him to need a break from it. (I don't want a break from it, though ;) but I can try moving it to another spot.) My guess is that he's doing it because he's so excited to be spelling with me. He was SO happy during spelling today. It was right after lunch so he wasn't overly hungry.

I also experimented with not giving him pie after every word. Two times I worked fast and was able to squeeze two consecutive questions and answers out of him for one bite of pie.

He also told me that he was reading the answer to at least one of the questions from my sheet. So at least some of the questions in past lessons that I assumed were prior knowledge, he was actually reading! And maybe that's why I haven't needed to spell anything for him. BUT the fact that he is reading 10-point type from a paper that is not directly in front of him, in and of itself is HUGE! The fact that he is reading at all is huge! This will be clarified in the transcript below.

Spell: CONSTANTLY

Spell: ESTIMATED

Spell: REALITY

What are we talking about today?

FLYING CARS

What does the acronym GPS stand for?

GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM

In how many years might flying cars become a reality?

FIVE

[couch break]

Name one type of technology on this board (J-R) that was mentioned:

MOBILE PHONE

Spell: COLLISIONS

[couch break]

Spell: AIRCRAFT

Spell: SURFACES

What is the name of the first flying car model that we are talking about? 

VAHANA

When will the Vahana deviate from the predetermined routes? 

TO AVOID COLLISIONS

What does "swivelling" mean? 

TURNING AROUND A POINT

What is another word for a "central point"? 

HUB

[couch break]

What do we call a structure with curved surfaces designed to give

the most favorable ratio of drag to lift in flight? 

AEROFOIL

Where on the Vahana are the rotors situated? 

ON THE WINGS

On what plane do the aerofoils in the rotor rotate? 

HORIZONTAL

[couch break]

Name another plane of movement. 

VERTICAL

(pk) Spell a homonym for plane. [He loves these!!]

PLAIN

Spell: PRELIMINARY 

[couch break]

Spell: SUCCESSFUL

Spell: DISMISSED

What does a PROTOTYPE refer to? 

A FIRST OR PRELIMINARY VERSION OF A DEVICE OR VEHICLE

When did the first successful test flight of the Vahana take place? 

JANUARY TWENTY EIGHTEEN

What term is used to describe an unattainable hope or scheme? 

PIPE DREAM

How long ago did the first successful test flight take place? There are two possibilities based on how you count it so I'm just going to give you the one on this board (A-I).

EIGHT

How many seconds short of a minute did the test flight last?

SEVEN

Spell: INDEPENDENT 

[couch break]

Spell: REQUIRED

Spell: ESSENTIALLY

[couch break]

What is the name of the model that we are discussing now?

VOLOCOPTER

(pk) What's another kind of 'copter?

HELICOPTER

Can you give me a synonym for "infamous"? 

NOTORIOUS

How many rotors does this multi-copter have?

EIGHTEEN

What is the name for an unmanned aerial vehicle? 

DRONE

[couch break]

What does the UAE stand for? 

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Can you name another emirate that forms part of the UAE, other than Dubai, on the A-I board? I know this is a long shot but it wouldn't surprise me if you know this. It starts with A and you can just poke D if you don't know.

[HUGE grins!]

ABU DHABI

[Then he goes back to the A....]

OK, go ahead and spell the other one!

AJMAN

Sam, I am stunned. Did you read this from my paper or did you know it? Spell KNOW or READ since they start on the same board.

READ IT

Sam, you clever boy! This is so exciting! I didn't know you could read such small type. I'm trying to think of something else I can ask you but I'm drawing a blank, so I'll ask you the last question of the lesson. I'm turning my paper over but you might have already seen it or you already know this. Anyway, on which continent can the UAE be found? 

ASIA

For the last bite of pie, since he's coming to visit tomorrow, spell the name of your nephew.

ELIJAH

[Now here is the everyday life result of having just finished reading Ido Kedar's Autismland and knowing your kid is in there and can understand everything and appreciates being spoken to like a person!]

Sam, you did so great! I am tired and haven't had lunch yet and I know you would love to go out. I have to do a bunch of stuff to get ready for our guests tomorrow but I PROMISE you that I will take you out sometime between now and bedtime. I know that you would love to help me with my chores, but you are helping me by entertaining yourself for a while. Thank you!

Sam and Agun

Apo and Agun, we are really excited to see you soon! In preparation for your visit, I thought it would be fun to read some stories from your Taiwan Memories scrapbook to Sam. I have never done this before but now I know he understands everything and I think he really enjoyed it. I was really touched that Agun was a year younger than Sam when he was first drafted into the Japanese army (see photos). Thank you both so much for your lives of goodness and service and for telling us your stories! Here is the transcript of today's lesson. Any word with (pk) before it stands for "prior knowledge" which means that this is not something I told Sam the answer to ahead of time, it's something he already knows. Everything in CAPS is something he spelled. I did not tell him how to spell any of the words. Every day I discover some new thing that he already knows. See you soon!

Spell: JAPANESE

Spell: RED PAPERS

(pk) What is Agun's English name? WALTER

Spell: BRAINWASHED

(pk) What's a word beginning with P that refers to government information used to brainwash people? PROPAGANDA

(pk) What does M.D. stand for? MEDICAL DOCTOR

Name the city in Taiwan where army headquarters was located: TAIPEI

Spell: HEADQUARTERS

Spell: RESEARCH

Spell: CLINICAL

(pk) Spell a word that begins with P that refers to who a doctor who does clinical work works with: PATIENTS

(pk) Spell a homonym for patients: PATIENCE [He loves it when I ask him for homonyms!!]

How old was Agun when first drafted into the Taiwanese army? TWENTY TWO

Spell: CHINESE MILITARY ACADEMY

Spell: INTERRUPTION

Spell: FIFTEEN

Spell: FOXHOLES

What reptile did the trench-diggers sometimes eat because they were so hungry? SNAKES

Name another food item they ate that begins with V: VEGETABLES

Spell: MISO SOUP

(pk) Miso is made from something that begins with S. Do you know? SOYBEANS

Spell: TATAMI

(math) If Agun's tatami mat was 3'x6', how many square feet is that? EIGHTEEN

Spell: MOSQUITO

Agun ate two things that being with P. Spell one of them: PEANUTS

(pk) If Sam eats peanuts, what drug does he get injected with (short or long name is fine)? EPINEPHRINE

Youth Activity at the Park

We were supposed to meet at the park above the beach to surf with the young men from church but the leader in charge decided the conditions were not great so decided to play a ball game in the park. I had invited one of our good friends who is a nonspeaking speller and for the first hour it was just us and the other leaders and it was super cool for Sam and his other nonspeaking speller friend to be together at a church activity! It's going to be even more exciting when they can talk to each other, but just the feeling that they were not the only ones like them must have been so special! I know I felt such a sense of companionship and camaraderie being with another autism speller parent! Sam's friend went up to him and rubbed him under the chin and was SO happy to see him! He's the only person this young man did this with.

A Sacred Space

I had a little emotional setback yesterday with gentle feedback from my trainer regarding fine-tuning what is correct in terms of what I can ask him on the three boards. I have such a hard time "making mistakes" when I try so hard to do what's right. But guess what--this is all part of the learning process and the important thing is that Sam and I are doing TOTALLY FABULOUS and by going out of my comfort zone like this, I am finally giving my son a voice and a LIFE. Go us!

I've also had some anxiety about the message I emailed to his school teacher since I haven't heard back from her yet. But guess what--maybe her email address has changed, maybe she is on vacation, maybe she even thinks I'm making the whole thing up. So what. The truth is, I had a clear prompting to have Sam share a message with her, he really spelled it, and it was sweet and heartfelt. I had the courage to follow a prompting from God. I took a risk so that I could give a special gift to a dear person. I did my part. My side of the street is clean.

Today I was so aware of what an incredibly sacred experience it is to be alone in my home with my sixteen-year-old son and in an unrushed way get to know him letter by letter. Today I asked him a few more difficult prior-knowledge questions and discovered that his initiation and accuracy are best when he is being challenged! He really wants to show me what he knows! We did today's session at noon and he had not had lunch yet because he had a late breakfast so I was hoping the apple pie would tide him over. He was definitely a little hungry and agitated but he still did great! He also has gotten SO much better at moving his finger to the right if he doesn't immediately land on the correct letter! I am also proud of myself for embracing the idea that when he goes off and sits on the couch, he's actually asking for more input through my pulling on his arms. Smart guy!!

Speaking of smart, here is what he spelled today in part 2 of the WSL Surf Ranch lesson:

Spell: CYNICAL

(pk) Synonym for cynical that starts with D: DOUBTFUL

How many times was Shawn White an olympic champ? THREE

Spell: SNOWBOARDING

Spell: ARTIFICIAL

(pk) Word that begins with P meaning someone who does something never done before: PIONEER

How old was Kelly Slater when he came up with the surf ranch idea? FOURTEEN

(pk) It just goes to show that young people can do amazing things.

Spell the name of the Mormon prophet who was fourteen when he had his first vision. JOSEPH SMITH

Spell: AERIAL

(pk) Spell the homonym for aerial, in the story of The Little Mermaid: ARIEL [he was SO confident with this one!]

Spell: SIMULATIONS

(pk) What is a decade? TEN YEARS

How many football fields long is the surf ranch? SEVEN    

How many different types of waves can be generated? FIFTY

Spell: SUSTAINABLE

(pk) What's a word that begins with R that is similar to sustainable: RENEWABLE [so confident!]

Spell: VELOCITY

[And here is where I got really gutsy! Remembering high school physics, I wondered if he knew that velocity is not just about speed. So......]

(pk) Velocity has to do with two things, ________ and ________: SPEED and DIRECTION [sooooooo confident!]

What's the name of the professor quoted just now: AARON JAMES

Spell maneuver, a French word from the lesson: MANEUVER

Spell this other French word from the lesson, repertoire: REPERTOIRE

(pk) What country is Tokyo in? JAPAN

Doctor Kupper is coming over later today--spell his name for me, please? KUPPER

Incredible Lesson with Family Interaction AND Toilet Training!

Tuesday, August 14, 2015

Since Sam chose a lesson on astronomy the other day, I got the idea to look up Bill Nye, the Science Guy and I play it for Sam on Netflix in the living room when I'm doing other things.

Not gonna lie, after Sam's spelling teacher came over yesterday and coached me, today was the first day in a few days that I was nervous about spelling with Sam because I was worried that I wouldn't be able to remember the things that she taught me. And I started reading Ido Kedar's amazing book, Ido in Autismland last night and it was amazing but filled me with all kinds of worries about the momentous responsibility that is on my shoulders. But I baked a magical spelling apple pie, fed Sam lunch, told him I was nervous but we were going to spell and it was going to be great!

The other thing I've discovered is that our private spelling sessions don't have to fit neatly into an hour time slot so we can just RELAX and have fun. He gets up a lot and I am not strong enough to prevent him and then I have to pull on his arms to get him off the couch. But maybe he needs that input on his arms! Let's assume this action fulfills a purpose!

And I am getting better and better at inserting semi-open questions into our lessons so I get to learn more about Sam each time, and also give him the opportunity to make choices. FYI, I did not tell him how to spell anything in this lesson, even HIERARCHY.

Oh, OH, and yesterday I was demonstrating to his teacher how I've been physically helping him with the first letter sometimes or using pie to catch his eye. But today I didn't have to do this ONCE!! He was doing much better at initiation and when he needed physical reminding I used the tambourine instead!!

I started today's session by bringing him into an important family event. I read the text conversation that had gone on about Julia's new job, and then after the lesson I texted the family what he said about it. <3 <3 <3

---------------------------------

Your sister, Julia, just got a job as head teacher at Sylvan Learning Center so let's give her a message!

Spell: JULIA

Spell: CONGRATULATIONS

Spell: SYLVAN LEARNING CENTER

In order to be a tutor you have to be: SMART

Let's continue our lesson about puns. Spell: INTELLIGENCE

Spell: HIGH INTELLECT

[Odors happening and Sam moving around, so.....]

Affirm or deny, Sam would like to use the toilet: A

[Sat on the toilet and peed!!]

Don't let anyone tell you that puns are a sign of low _____: INTELLIGENCE

What was John Pollack's book called? THE PUN ALSO RISES

Spell: SIDETRACK

Spell: HIERARCHY

Someone's _________ may lead him/her not to like puns: PERSONALITY

Those kinds of people want to get stuff done without ________: DISTRACTIONS

Spell: MORGAN FREEMAN

What network released a Father's Day jokes video: NICKELODEON

[Praying/thinking on my feet to segue into something personal....]

What movie did you watch with Griffin last night? GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

What did Griffin eat? BURRITO

What kind of restaurant serves burritos? MEXICAN

What kind of Mexican restaurant is Sam allowed to eat at because of gluten-free options? CHIPOTLE

Affirm or deny, Sam loves Chipotle: AFFIRM

Let's eat at Chipotle tonight! Do you want chicken or beef? BEEF

Spell: GUACAMOLE

For our next topic we can do a lesson about an artificial surfing park or flying cars. Surfing or technology? SURFING

[He had his first surfing lesson yesterday so he seemed really excited about this!]

What is the name of the town where the surfing park is located? LEMOORE

What does WSL stand for? WORLD SURFING LEAGUE

Who is the founder of the park? KELLY SLATER

Was your surfing lesson yesterday awesome, frightening, or both? AWESOME

How much did the park cost to build? THIRTY MILLION DOLLARS

About how many fans came to opening day? FIVE THOUSAND

How much did amateurs pay to ride for an hour on opening day? NINE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS

Do you think spending this much money is crazy or exciting? CRAZY

[Farting aroma again so I took him to the toilet again and he pooed! He was smiling from ear to ear!!]

Phonics

Sam has been spelling for me every day for the past 14 days! We haven't missed a day! I keep pushing him a little each day to see what he knows and he blows me away every time! Yesterday I thought he couldn't possibly know this but I figured I'd let him take a guess. In a lesson about puns, "What phonics program has helped millions of kids learn to read?"

HOOKED ON PHONICS

Who is more likely to make a sarcastic remark, Dad or Griffin?

GRIFFIN

Yes, This Defies Description

A comment that one of my spelling moms shared:

"I have always said that getting to know your child for the first time -- after they have been in your life for years -- defies description. There is nothing like it that I have ever experienced, and I'm so happy not just for you, but also for Sam being able to show you who he is!" E.S.Z.

A Special Message to Sam's Teacher

Sam's school teacher who he has had for several years just let us know that she is moving to another school. I read her email to Sam and then asked his spelling teacher if she could ask him to give her a message on the 26-letter board.

Can you spell a word to describe your school teacher?

MAGICAL

Any other words to describe her?

LOVING

Do you have a message for her?

THANK YOU FOR NOT GIVING UP ON ME

post fill in later

abcd

post fill in later

abcd

post fill in later

abcd

post fill in later

abcd

post fill in later

abcd

Sam’s Magical Spelling Pie

This pie is easy, delicious, and gets his motor running! Since I'm baking 2-3 of these per week, I've streamlined the process!

Filling:
3 organic apples
1/4 c Pamela's GF flour blend
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 c organic maple syrup
1 tsp rice vinegar or lemon juice

Crust:
3/4 c Pamela's GF flour blend
1/4 c Trader Joe's filtered coconut oil (the kind that doesn't taste like coconut)

Preheat oven to 400. Peel and thinly slice apples and combine with other filling ingredients in a pie pan. Stir to throughly coat the apples. (Tip: Use the measuring cup and spoon with the dry ingredients first so you can use the same ones with the wet afterwards.)

Mix together the crust ingredients. Add a little water if too dry or more flour if too wet. Either press globs of dough with your hands directly into the tops of the apples, or sprinkle like crumbs. I like to wear disposable gloves for easy clean-up. Bake for about 25 minutes or until crust is brown and apples are tender.

HUGE Breakthrough!

Both of Sam's seasoned communication partners are on vacation and I've only done it three times before and today would be the first time without anyone else there to prompt Sam with pie. But I didn't want him to miss a lesson so I just told him I'd try being the CP and Pie Lady at the same time and he smiled and seemed agreeable. Well, he ROCKED the lesson on earthworms! He was just as initiated and accurate as he was with Lisa on Tuesday! And the pie thing worked great! I placed the pie on the table in front of us and he would just point neatly to the dish of pie after each word!!

This was not a lesson I had written or studied ahead of time, and I was even able to come up with some semi-open-ended questions on the fly! Sam only got up once and it was because he was poopy so I changed him and then we went back to our lesson. The only word I told him how to spell ahead of time was "AERATE". He spelled:

WORM, DARWIN, PLANET, DINOSAUR, EARTHWORM, RECYCLE, FERTILIZING, EATING, POOPING, WORM CAST, PLANTS, VERMICOMPOST, TOMATOES, STRAWBERRIES, ENGINEER, AERATE, FERTILE, FLOODING, EROSION, BAROMETER, HEALTH, DEFORESTATION, BIRD, REPAIR, LIVE ON THE PLANET

What is worm cast beneficial for? PLANTS

Spell one pollutant of soil (starts on the same board), pesticide or metal: METAL

What does contaminate mean? POLLUTE (prior knowledge)

Name a synonym for ally: FRIEND

But the icing on the cake was, he had such good momentum and we were both having so much fun that I thought of a way to let him tell me what he wanted for dinner. Because they all start on the same board, I asked him if he wanted BEEF, BACON, or CHICKEN for dinner. He wouldn't point to any of them so I thought, hmmmm, maybe he wants sausage so I asked him to AFFIRM or DENY that he wanted sausage instead. He selected DENY. So then I went back to my original question and he spelled BACON! Since the next choices were also on the same boards, he was also able to choose his starch and vegetable!

Do you want rice or pasta with it? RICE

Do you want spinach or zucchini? ZUCCHINI 

This is so exciting and empowering for both of us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fabulous Session!

Sam had the best session I think I've ever seen yesterday. Lisa taught him an adorable lesson about horses and from the very first word, Sam didn't hesitate. His initiation was fast and his accuracy was awesome. He had a bm in the middle but after a change, he got right back in the saddle! ;) Lisa was very smooth and confident with board placement, switching the boards quickly, and coaching Sam. It's inspiring to me to see how far she has come so I can do it, too!