Writing Prompts

One of the many things I have been learning about my son is how much of a struggle writing is for him. Quite frankly, this came as a big surprise. I had no idea I was that far out of touch. He'd written a number of papers and spent much of his second grade year learning to write the perfect paragraph, courtesy of his much loved teacher, Dolores Peck.

So, fast forward a few years and John is once again required to do a morning writing. In the past they have been called check-ins. This
year they are called writing prompts. Whatever they are called, they are basically the same thing...a morning writing opportunity.

John has developed quite the attitude about writing prompts. When his teacher does get him to write, his tone is incredibly rude. I am embarrassed by his lack of respect in his writing. The truth is that John has a great deal of love and respect for his teacher. She just takes the brunt of his writing frustrations.

Interesting that this should come to a head right about the time we learn that John has autism. Textbook. Kids with autism often have a hard time expressing themselves and have little use for reflection.

So, lucky kid has a Mom who has taken on writing prompts for Spring Break. He's not feeling so lucky. I will say though, today (Wednesday) was his fourth writing prompt and he needed far less direction than in previous days. Sunday he wrote his first prompt. That experience was incredibly unpleasant for us both.

We may have to work a deal with his teacher regarding topics. This week he is writing based on activities he has enjoyed. My ability to talk through with him what he might want write is really helping. Of course, writing isn't exactly my forte either, so here's hoping we are getting it right.

I would let this go if I didn't believe this will lead to compounding learning issues in the future. 3-5 sentences now becomes 3-5 paragraphs in middle school and 3-5 pages in high school. John is clearly geared toward math and science. Nonetheless, a high school diploma and college admission are pretty dependent on passing English...year after year after year. Oh the fun in store for us...

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Clinical Research Study

Today we spent a long day on the NIH campus. I have spent very little time actually on campus, which is ironic since Lang works there.

I had seen advertised multiple times through the Cure JM website that NIH is running studies related to James' dermatomyositis. One study is just for James, a study of myopathies. The other involved John, Lang and me as well. This one is attempting to determine the causality of autoimmune disease.

The letter home said no meds until after the blood test. This proved unfortunate as the boys went without their ADHD meds. We learned later that we were allowed to take meds, but then I had left them in the car. I did have smaller doses in my purse, but the morning's anxiety already had a foothold in their behavior thus proving largely ineffective.

That said, both boys see the value in participation. While we are unlikely to benefit from this research, someone else will. And, both James and John have already benefited from research done into dermatomyositis and ADHD. Thankfully they understand these things.

Oh...and they each get $50. Actually, it pays $100 each, and James gets a second $100 for the myositis study. Too much money for them.

I was amazed at how much blood they drew from the boys, something like 14 vials. John came really close to passing out after his blood draw.

By the time we left, John was reading the board, looking for additional studies he can participate in. Too funny.


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Rocket Boy!

John and Lang spent the last week building and finally launching a model rocket.

It all started with our winning the lottery to purchase tickets to see the launch of the space shuttle. Our visit to Kennedy Space Center was inspiring to a certain red-haired boy. He decided then and there that his science fair project would be to build and launch a rocket.

Shortly after our trip, Lang and John visited the NOVAAR monthly launch. About this time we learned there are all kinds of restrictions on building your own rocket, particularly after 9/11. So, at the launch Lang and John came home with a kit.

Winter was cold and busy. The rocket was finally assembled and then launched on April 2nd. So much excitement!

The weather was questionable on the morning of the 2nd. Club launches only are allowed in the mornings with the public welcome after 12pm. We decided to shoot for 12:30pm...when James, Joseph, Gram and I could get there too.




Morning weather was fabulous, then a quick bout of nasty weather followed by a short clearing. John launched his rocket during the clearing.

The rocket went straight up, beyond the cloud cover, got caught by the wind and we watched as it drifted miles away. We never saw the rocket fall, nor did we ever see it again.

Trauma. John's first rocket is gone. That's about all he can say about the experience. We did manage to console him by sending him off to the hobby shop with Lang to purchase some new rockets. He still wants to find a replica of the first rocket, paint it the same as the first, and keep it forever. No launches for it.


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