July Fourth: Our Freedom and Our New Journey!

As we celebrate our freedom today, Ryan and I have decided to embark on a new journey together.  We are going to attempt to blog about our lives, autism, RPM, and anything else that comes up.  This is a very exciting endeavor for us, so we hope that you will be a part of our journey.  Please feel free to submit any questions for Ryan or for me to answer. We will do our best to answer them!  One of Ryan’s goals is to become an AUTISTIC ADVOCATE and we feel like that this is a good way to do that!

For those of you who do not know us, Ryan is an 8 year old who is diagnosed with autism and apraxia.  Up until a year and a half ago, we were unsure how much he understood or how much he knew.  He has completely changed our way of thinking as I am now able to teach him grade level and above grade level academics.  This is a child who was still being taught basic concepts like verbs, matching, and his colors.  He is now learning geography, history, current events, science, and math!

I submitted Ryan’s story on the disability advocacy website The Mighty.  You can find this story here. http://themighty.com/2015/04/when-our-child-with-autism-began-using-a-letter-board/

***A quick note:  throughout this blog, we will share Ryan’s thoughts with all of you.  I will use all capital letters when it is Ryan’s thoughts.***

Today, Ryan requested a history of the Fourth of July lesson versus one that focused on the holiday.  I created one that he enjoyed and learned from.  I asked him his thoughts at the end of the lesson and he said: MY THOUGHTS ARE I AM HAPPY TO LIVE IN A COUNTRY WITH MY FREEDOM. WE PEOPLE DONT REALIZE, CARING ONLY FOR OURSELVES, SO MANY PEOPLE DONT HAVE FREEDOM LIKE GRANDPA BOB.

I often feel as though Ryan has an adult mind, trapped in a very unpredictable and uncooperative child’s body.  Tonight once again reaffirmed this.

Please wish us luck!  We can’t wait to see where this new adventure will take us!