I had a fabulous time on Saturday. First we went to a child psychiatry seminar in which Sam's first psychologist interviewed him along with me and Budley. Needless to say, Sam had everyone in stitches while Budley and I kept getting too choked up to talk. It's a tough thing to have an autistic child, particularly the higher-functioning type that no one really knows what to do with because in many ways, parents are on their own. Sam has reached so many milestones that no one ever thought he would reach, and I'm not sure whether being told his limitations early on made a difference or not. The thing is, nobody ever told Sam he couldn't do anything. We only helped him to find a way to do the things he wanted to do--and several other things he didn't see any point in learning.
Reading has always been the toughest task for him, but I'm beginning to see a glimmer of interest. He seems to have finally realized how many doors are closed to him because he can't read well. Maybe it'll be enough to motivate him to try harder. I certainly hope so.
After that, I went to the IRWA meeting and gave a little workshop on writing blurbs--you know, those catchy little mini-synopses on the back of a book or in the description on Amazon? I hope I was able to convey my method to the rest of my chapter mates. It's hard to explain, but basically it boils down to less is more.
I spent most of Sunday in the yard planting grass seed (the weatherman promised rain today) and mums, leveling the geothermal loop some more (still not done!) and did some mowing. At the moment, I'm just plain tired, and I'm about to enjoy the first batch of white chicken chili of the season. Perhaps I'll post the recipe tomorrow...
Try to be patient.
