To Fly, or not to Fly....

Along with back to school comes back to clubs and groups - this weekend a couple of the teens had the opportunity to go flying with the Air Cadets.  It was a beautiful sunny day and a group of 25 cadets went to the local air field for gliding (an airplane without an engine) and flights in the tow plane.  Going up in a glider is an amazing experience, you are towed up into the sky by another plane and then the tow rope is released leaving the glider to soar on its own.  There is nothing like the feeling of soaring in a glider, it is so quiet and peaceful.  The teens flying the glider and tow plane with licensed pilots that teach the children basics about flying and give them an opportunity to take control of the plane while in the sky.

As Air Cadets the teens are also given the opportunity to apply for scholarship summer courses for the opportunity to get either their glider pilot licence and/or their private pilot licence.  One of our sons was able to obtain both licences wile a cadet and has continued on with Air Cadets now as a volunteer.  Obtaining a pilots licence at 17 years old has served our son well as he became an Air Craft Maintenance Engineer as a young adult and still fly's for recreation.  This year our daughter is interested in applying for the glider scholarship and has currently been studying for the qualifying exam.

For some of our teens the interest in becoming a pilot isn't there and that is okay, they can do many other things at Air Cadets.  While in cadets some have focused on band, wilderness survival, fitness, leadership, range or instructional techniques....and some have tried everything.  For one he met his wife through Air Cadets that led to our beautiful granddaughter.

Social Devaluation and a Universities Thoughts

My daughter just started her third year of university and had to take a mandatory course on "social devaluation".  Social devaluation can happen for a number of reasons including, but not limited to race, religion, appearance, income, but this course specifically focused on individuals with special needs.  On the surface this course sounded like a great idea, teaching the soon to be professionals how society devalues individuals with special needs.

Social Devaluation - when a person or group is considered to have less social value than others.

My hope as a parent and advocate for people with special needs was that this course was going to educate these students on "social devaluation" and ways that they, as the upcoming professionals, could advocate and best support these individuals.  This was not the case, during the course it was discussed how people with special needs set themselves up to be devalued and we as parents, advocates, and professionals must expect more from these individuals.

In this class it was discussed how individuals with special needs, need to do things that their "typical" peers would be doing.  As wonderful as this sounds it is just not practical, for example we have two 18 year old's, one is off at college and the other is still playing with Lego and Hot Wheel cars.  For the second child he would be lost at college as he wouldn't be able to keep up academically or socially.  If we were to take away the Lego and Hot Wheel cars he would also be lost and as this is where he is developmentally, so why shouldn't he be able to play with them.

It was also discussed how people with special needs wouldn't be devalued if they dressed like their peers.  I agree that dressing their age is important however there are other considerations to be made. Some of our children have coordination challenges that make dressing a challenge so finding clothing that they are able to manipulate is more important than keep up with fashions.  There could also be other considerations that are musts in clothing accommodations for example diapers, braces, feeding tubes, sensory issues to name a few.

Another thought in this course was that if people would "act" like others then they wouldn't be devalued.  I don't know about the people with special needs that are in your life but I know the ones in my life with special needs aren't "acting".  This thought really made me question the professors at this university, do they not realize that the diagnostic criteria for various special needs is based on behavior.  

We as parents and advocates for people with special needs, need to step up our advocating skills.  I encourage you to get out and advocate. Also if you have an opportunity to speak at your local university get in there and educate them because I am guessing the university my daughter is attending isn't the only one with these thoughts.

Birthday Cake, Race Cars and.........Seizures :-(

With a large family, birthdays are never ending and this weekend was no exception, over the next 2 weeks we have 4 birthdays and we always make a point of celebrating each person individually.  We will do large extended family, family dinners and combine occasions but we also have an individual celebration with those living at home.

For some of our children we do a special family outing instead of a "friend" birthday party.  The type of celebration is dependent on the child's wishes and circumstances, not all our children enjoy or can manage peer friendships and their birthday should be enjoyable for them.

This weekends birthday celebration brought us to the car race track to watch demolition racing.  We haven't been to the track in a couple years as the triggers for children with sensory issues are extreme at the track.  We left our youngest 2 with a babysitter and the rest of us went armed with sunglasses, earplugs and blankets.  It was amazing the progress that the children have made in 2 years in regards to their tolerance at such events.  With ear plugs in, sunglasses on and blankets on their laps (cuddling with their blanket and covering their nose with it when the smell of burning rubber was too strong) we were able to sit and watch the races in a strategically chosen part of the bleachers (leaving a quick escape route if needed).

While in line to pay we were very blessed, when a stranger noticing our large group came up and offered us a free ticket to admit 1/2 of our group.

The children managed incredibly for the majority of the races, when it came time for the final demolition the shock of it all was too much for one child, triggering seizures.  Fortunately she was on my lap when they started and as they weren't letting up, I was able to escape through our pre planned route with her to get her the help she required without causing a scene.

Another tradition in our family is the birthday person gets to choose dinner.  Some requests are not necessarily what I would consider dinner and need to be supplemented, for example one birthday someone requested toast so I added eggs and sausage making everyone happy.  Tonight's supper is "2 noodle casserole" (tuna noodle casserole), cesear salad and chocolate birthday cake.

Working together....back to routines

We have been busy getting back into the routines that come with school and all the added after school activities as we say goodbye to summer.  September is a good time to review the progress over the last year and make new goals for everyone.  With our children that have additional special needs we take an extra look at their therapies and schooling ensuring we don't get stuck in a rut and are still moving forward.

Every September and then again in January we request a progress assessment from our therapists.  The speech language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists and behavioral consultant have all been busy with our children determining their current levels.  Having these assessments, aids us in setting goals for the next months.  We are determining if the therapies and therapists are effective, what we should focus on and/or if we would get more benefit elsewhere.

We also take a serious look at their educational needs.  September is a great time for setting academic and/or life skill goals for the year, choosing curriculum's and methods to suit everyone's abilities.  As a homeschooling family of multiple children with special needs we have the benefit of educational assistants that support our children.  We have been busy training our educational assistants so they can support our children in meeting this years goals.

After all the assessments are complete and our educational assistants have had sometime to get to know the children and their needs we plan a team meeting/IEP (individual education plan) meeting.  For this team meeting we invite all the therapist and teaching staff, we want everyone on the same page working with the children so they can have the most productive year possible.  Working our way through the family discussing everyone's needs, brainstorming ideas and making an action plan for school, therapies and any extra curricular activities that may benefit each child (on top of the extra curricular activities that meet their interests).

Time saving meal prep ideas and a delicious dinner recipe

Preparing meals and feeding a large family is a never ending task.  As we are extremely busy with everything involved in raising a large, homeschooling family with multiple special needs we need to use as many time saving ideas as possible.

Our time saving starts with a menu plan.  Menu plans are a common practice of "thrifty or frugal" people. Meal planning has become more popular with people struggling financially but is also beneficial as the basis of a time saving plan.  Having a menu plan can also be a stress reliever as there is no more last minute panic of "what's for dinner?" and when you are feeding 15-20+ people not knowing can be stressful.  When we are preparing our menu plan we start by considering what the weeks activities look like.  Are there any "special meals" for the week?  ie birthdays, outings, etc.  We then consider the amount of time available for preparing meals each day which determines the type of meal.  If we have a day with multiple appointments then dinner is either cooked in the crockpot or something re-heated.  Next step of planning is considering what food you have on hand.....then plan away

Multi tasking is a necessity when trying to save time while preparing meals.  When it comes time to prepare dinner I am always considering what can be done today to make tomorrow easier.  Instead of sitting idle while waiting for a pot to boil or something to cook, I prep the next meal (I know what it is because I have a menu plan) and/or clean up.  If today's meal and tomorrow have some of the same steps I do them both at the same time.  If the meal doubles easily I do so as this makes lunches for the week or can be frozen for another day.  Today when making dinner I doubled our "Peanut Sesame Noodle Salad" so we have some lunches for the week and I prepped tomorrow's "Crockpot Beef Stew".  I also always have a sink of hot soapy water so I can wash dishes as I go.

Another thing that made a huge difference for me was the realization that dinner can be prepped at anytime and most days needs to be prepped at the first available time.  Some days the meal is prepped the day before, other times it's first thing in the morning, when the kids are napping or just before dinner.....whatever works that day.

When it comes to clean up after dinner I put the leftovers away in "lunch" sized portions.  By doing this at clean up time the leftovers only need to be handled once and this saves time.

Having an emergency meal or 3 or 4 also tends to be a lifesaver.  Having something in the freezer that can be warmed up quickly can be my saving grace on those days that nothing goes as expected.  These meals may be a meal we previously doubled or frozen pizza.

Here is today's dinner Peanut Sesame Noodle Salad which has been a favorite this summer and as an added bonus it is fairly inexpensive to make.

Ingredients

1 package spaghetti
1 grated carrot
1 large red pepper, sliced thin
1 lb sugar snap peas
1 lb broccoli florets
2 tbsp sesame seeds

Sauce
1/4 cup dark sesame oil
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp red peeper flakes
2 tsp ground ginger

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to the boil.  Add the spaghetti and cook according to directions on package.  Drain and set aside, run the noodles under cold water to cool faster if you don't have time to refrigerate before eating.

In another pot, bring water to boil, add sugar snap peas and broccoli florets, return to boil cooking for 3-5 minutes, and cook until crisp tender.  When cooked drain and cool in cold water.

Put all dressing ingredients in blender and blend thoroughly.

Pour dressing over cooked noodles and toss until well coated.  Add vegetables and sesame seeds tossing gently.

Refrigerate, serve cold.

Optional:  also tastes great topped with cooked chicken.

We are under police lock down!

It's been nothing but changes here between the ongoing renovations and 2 daughters moving out, 1 to college and 1 to university.  It is a huge change to the family dynamics whenever a child moves out and with 2 leaving at the same time it has been a tremendous change.

We started their move to their new homes with the hospital visit for the younger children and then the girls, another sister and their Dad left driving "convo style" to their new homes for the school year.  Both girls have a very poor sense of direction so the plan was for them to follow their Dad who is towing a trailer with all their possessions.  Following one another in separate vehicles in a very busy city is challenging but they made it and having walkie talkies in each vehicle was a tremendous help.

The trip has been plagued with mishap and adventure from the start and it seemed to follow them all the way to their new homes.  While the girls were watching some of their siblings at the hotel, while the rest of the family was at the hospital, one teenage brother managed to lock himself on the 14th floor balcony and it was seeming like they weren't going to be able to get the door open.  After a couple hours they were finally able to rescue him, not being there but I am guessing the first hour involved laughing at the brother.

Later that evening after many hugs and goodbyes the 4 left to our daughter's new homes.  6 hours into their drive in the middle of nowhere Dads vehicle began to overheat and after pulling over to investigate they found the vehicle would not restart.  A tow truck was called and the vehicle was taken to a local garage for repair.  Everyone was able to get into a hotel at 4am and get some sleep while waiting for the garage to open and then repair the vehicle.  After sleeping and before retrieving the vehicle they went to a local diner for lunch.  At the diner they met a very outgoing waitress that seemed drawn to my outgoing family and she asked if she could join them on their trip.  At first they thought she was just joking around and when finding out she was serious they had to politely decline her request.

After more driving they were looking for another hotel and it seemed that almost all hotels were full.  Fortunately the staff, from one of the full hotels, phoned around to other hotels and were able to secure the only available room at another hotel.  The next morning while preparing to leave they received a phone call from the front desk stating the "hotel was under police lock down and please do not leave your room".  After what seemed like a life time they received another call from the front desk stating "it is safe to leave your room".  When they left their room they saw multiple police officers and the local news people with cameras but were not able to determine what happened.

Everyone arrived at the college dorms and they were able to unpack the trailer and get the first one settled in.  Everyone stayed a while ensuring she was comfortable, her computer and printer was set up and she had a sense of her community.  While getting around the community, even though everything is about 5 minutes away, it was determined a GPS was a necessity or this young lady may never make it back to her dorm.  More goodbyes and time to get the university bound one settled 3 1/2 hours away from her younger sister.

They arrived at the next "new home" and got everything unpacked.  Met the roommates, did some shopping, had some lessons on getting to the university and hooked up the computer and printer.  More hugs and goodbyes and it's homeward bound for Dad and younger daughter.

Schooling options....what works for you?

We as a society are fortunate that there are so many options available for schooling our children and if one program doesn't fit your child's needs you are free to try something different.

Over the years we have had many go through the public system and it has worked well for some of them.  This year we do not have any in the public system which  in a way is fortunate as the teachers are currently involved in contract negotiations and school isn't expected to open for a while.

For some of our children with special needs we found they were able to be better supported if we home schooled them.  With the program we are enrolled with the "home school" has access to the provincial special needs education funding.  With the use of this funding the parents are able to direct how they would like the money allotted to support their child.  The parents can request therapies, special education assistants, therapy equipment, activities, resources, etc. This home school program is also able to receive special needs funding for our adult learner providing extra support for working on life skill training.


Some home school programs have a combination of home and face to face opportunities.  The school we are enrolled with has this option and the face to face programs range from academic classes to supplemental field trips.  As a family you are free to choose what works for your child.  We have been able to choose to send our child to activities that they are successful with and keep them home for extra one on one support with the challenging subjects.  We feel the children are getting the best of both worlds by having the benefits of being in a class and the added support of home.

This year, like last year, we will be home schooling 8 children with a range of special needs.  We have 3 special education assistants hired that will come into our home and work along side me schooling the children.  The children will also receive weekly speech, physical and occupational therapy supports.  Other supports they will be receiving include vision therapy, therapeutic horse back riding, private swim lessons, art therapy and therapeutic equipment.

The school provides a special needs teacher that helps select curriculum that is appropriate for the child, prepares the IEP and report cards.  The school with the parents hire the education staff and the school looks after the staff training and other staff issues that may arise.  The parent is responsible for the planning, implementing, overseeing and teaching along side the education assistants.

This weekend I will be busy organizing and setting up our learning areas, planning out our days and getting ready for back to school.  I have been researching hands on projects to match up with our learning outcomes and it looks like we will be having a fun year.  The first day of school for the teens is a retreat to a local summer camp where they will meet up with their school friends for games, water sports and lots of fun.