Notes

How an Autistic Child Has Altered A Career... For The Better - 12 Years Later

In 2006 I composed of Patty's and my choice to homeschool our son Trevor to help provide a learning environment more conducive with his autism. It's now twelve decades later and time to write about how things worked out.


Trevor started seventh grade using a customized schooling program. Patty focused on language and arts and that I concentrated on math and science. In addition, he attended a homeschool-assisted school which provided English and mathematics courses and attended a mathematics course at the middle school he would have generally attended. The program plan was created by Patty and me along with Trevor's school counselor. It ended up being a hybrid of schooling and traditional schooling which we believed gave Trevor the best likelihood of success. next was completely awesome in working together with us and putting Trevor's well-being first. The mixed teaching worked very well in seventh grade, but we noticed that Trevor wasn't getting enough peer socialization. In eighth grade we decided to start the process of mainstreaming back him into the public-school system. Patty continued focus on language and arts and mathematics and science topics were now being supplied by Trevor's middle school. I like to joke that I was fired as a homeschool teacher and my wife and boy did the firing. In fact the mainstreaming was the right answer since it enabled him to get needed socialization through spending more time at college whilst also giving him some additional 1:1 attention . In ninth grade we believed Trevor was prepared to be fully mainstreamed to the public-school system. While we packed up our homeschool materials, our involvement with Trevor's schooling and socialization expansion was still strong.


Ninth through 12th grade attracted some high points but also brought a lot of struggle. He had trouble telling the difference between children mocking him being a buddy. Because he was supporting his peers in his social interaction abilities, he would say and do things that weren't appropriate. He'd have a few close friends who were genuine in their friendship, some of which he's still friends with today. The play club was his first "clique", and while some in the club took advantage of Trevor's autism, many accepted and looked for him.

<img width="412" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/09/44/b2/0944b2589f09d4c39103366df67d5f4f.jpg" />


Trevor graduated from high school in 2011 with plans to go to school. Feeling that the leap from high school to a large university could be too extreme for him, he attended a local junior college for two years while living at home. He'd developed a love for movies and photography, so he chose to major in film studies with an emphasis in photography. Both of these years have been foundational for Trevor's expansion in that he continued to advance academically while also letting him work on design and adaptation abilities. In his sophomore year that he decided he wanted to transfer to a four-year university majoring in film and media studies. His decision on where to go was an outstanding example of decision making through empirical data analysis and pros/cons articulation. He also developed a visibility board using a number of decision criteria including offering of important, familiarity with family, and church offerings. He finally decided on Arizona State, comfy through his analysis that this was the best alternative. It was during this period that Trevor wrote about his experiences growing up with autism in Six-Word Lessons on Growing Up Autistic.


Back in August 2013 we took Trevor into the ASU Tempe campus, helped him to put up his dorm room, and compelled him to begin his junior year of school. While it was somewhat unnerving being a thousand miles away from him, we'd peace in knowing there were a number of household members in the region including Trevor's big sister Briana who had been now a nurse in nearby Scottsdale. His past two years of college were those of tremendous growth. He needed to determine a lot of things on his own, make new friends, and be responsible for his own research. Fortunately, he plugged into a church group that was walking distance from ASU. He fit in like a glove and the church team was a high point of the time at ASU. He got to experience living and dealing with roommates, the majority of which he believed were too immature for him. We obtained many problem calls when he lost his wallet, had pc difficulties, or was having difficulty coping with some scenarios.


His post-college life was filled with a lot of anxiety. Now he had been out of college and it was time to encourage himself. He was used by us for 17 months where we got to help him build good work habits. We staged a monthly inspection process called &quot;dones&quot; where in the beginning of the month he'd lay out what he would have done by the end of the month, which we would then review in the start of the following month. This was an outstanding process in that all three of us were aligned as to what he had to do, and he was held accountable for getting things done. His marketing assignments have been fruitful, including being interviewed by two local TV news stations.


He resides on his own in a condo we bought for him and two additional tenants on the autism spectrum. He pays rent, he manages his own money, he's as self sufficient as any 26-year-old. He's still got some challenges he'll continue to get for the remainder of his life. great site 'll always want someone else to help coach him through situations. It was lots of hard work on all our components, but Patty and I are excited about his potential and are glad that we were in a position to assist Trevor.


Homepage: http://www.alan-shaw-architects.co.uk