So what's been going on...
Teen Queen had her intake evaluation for the vocational day program on the 27th of August. Longest day ever. It was only 4 hours, but a brutally long four hours. Since she hadn't been tested for IQ and other things in the last five years, they had to retest her. Normally, this isn't that stressful, but throw her into an unfamiliar place with strangers who really didn't understand the way Autism works. The diagnostician started with the pattern matching questions; you know, they show you a pattern and you have to match it using colored blocks. Since autistic people think visually, this was a breeze for TQ. She had them figured as soon as they put them down. Like genius fast. Unfortunately, the diagnostician didn't realize that quality didn't translate to words and numbers. The next section was math problems, and without any visuals supporting, TQ was completely lost. The tester was throwing them at her and taking them away to throw another one in a machine-gun pace. If you don't let someone on the spectrum take time to translate the jumble of words and numbers into pictures they can understand, you pile on to their frustration. I once had it explained to me that Autistic language is pictures and to communicate with others they have to translate from verbal language to their language, and then try to figure out how to express the answers they see in their heads into words they can speak or write. It takes time and patience, and she was given neither. I could see her start to lose it, so I interrupted the testing, gave her her noise-cancelling headphones and iPad with the finger-painting app, and gave the diagnostician a quick course on Autism. She slowed down some, but the damage was done. By the end, the state of Texas had assessed her IQ at 74, qualifying her for every program available, but breaking my heart. I know she's so much smarter than what they see. But we managed to get through it and she should be starting the Borger program in October.
Baby Queen is back for her last year in high school. She'll be evaluated in February, and will start Borger next May. She's just happy to have more minions to boss around.
My sight took an unexpected turn into the crapper in August. My right eye is almost completely occluded by the cataract. In three months, it tripled in size and doubled in density. I've had rolling migraines and been in the ER twice for medication. Spouse finally said enough and pushed me to find another eye surgeon. I had my appointment Monday, failed every test spectacularly, and was informed I should stop driving for awhile (cue wirecutter's comments on my driving). My surgery on the right eye is scheduled for Oct. 3, and left eye Oct. 13. Yeah, Friday the 13th. Because of the strength of lenses needed, the degree of astigmatism, and the fact that my deductible is already met and insurance is going to pay 80%, I'm getting everything. I should only need some cheap Dollar Store readers if I need anything at all. I'm thrilled, excited and ready. The pain and strain of trying to do everything mostly blind has worn me down to my soul.
Other than that, things are just going on. Facing another birthday, another year ending and I'm still not sure what I want to do when I grow up. You all were so sweet in your comments and support, I just wanted to let you know how I've been. Hope y'all are doing okay.
Hugs,
Angel
69 comments:
Glad to see you drop in. Know that your band of followers has your six. Don't feel obligated to write but know that we love it when you do.
You're a lady to the manor-born, and I'm proud to "know" you. Prayers from OK.
Good to hear from you be BLESSED!
Glad to see your still alive Angel, we miss you.
Exile1981
We understand how tough it is for you. And of course thrilled when you take time to check in when you can. I know it is physically hard, with the vision, and the migraines, along with everything else you are going through. Do what you need to do for yourself and your family. Stop by when you feel like it, we will keep a place open for you. But you and yours come first, always. And stay safe out there in Texas. Mother nature can be a real sweetheart sometimes.
Good job on getting the elder Queen assessed and intake. Sucks that they blew it, but at least you'll get services out of it. Stupid that they don't understand autism isn't retardation. Jerks.
Congrats on your eye surgery. Hope things go well. After a lifetime of experience my wife and I have just given up on the 13th of the month. Nothing good has ever happened to us on that date. On the other hand, you're not us, so... hahahaha.
Glad to hear from you. I missed your comments and was worried. Take care of yourself and post once-in-a-while as you need it.
Hey,
Glad to hear from you. Life happens while you're making other plans.
I know that all too well, and it ain't over yet!
Sarthurk
Glad you are back.
We're here. We never left. Hang in there, kiddo.
Hi
Good to see you
Rich in NC
PS
Hi again...
I read 'Booger program' the first read through... Made me giggle.
that's Number 1.
Number B. - Our friend Nancy just last Monday had the cataract surgery and they did that little slit and lens implant. She has to wear a patch only when she sleeps. So...
I trust you should have little or no problems with yours.
Oh yeah, she can see quite well now.
Rich in NC
Best wishes on your eye surgery. I am sure you will bounce back twice as high.
We both had cataracts removed. Hey..colors!
Hang in there Angel! I hope all goes well for your surgery.
Had cataract surgery mumble-mumble years ago.
Went from legally blind (without monster glasses) to 20/40, and only need the cheap reading glasses now.
It's amazing what difference it made -even though it still took several years before trees in my dreams stopped being green blobs on top of brown sticks :)
Wow, pretty full plate there. Your Life certainly does have its challenges but I'm sure you will take them out like the Boss you are. Thanks for the update - hope your weekend allows you some time to rest.
Thanks for updating us Angel.
Feel better and heal quickly!
Thanks for the update Angel. Yeah, I understand the mixed feelings about Teen Queen but,man!, that is good news about the programs.and with Baby Queen moving right along too that has to help the stress level. Had both my eyes done in July and can't believe the difference.Good luck and throw us a bone now and again.
Good news about the TQ and the eyes. Heed the advice on wearing the eye patch at night. That is a MUST.
Turned 62 couple months ago.. Still not exactly sure what I'm going to do w/ my life. But, getting it narrowed down.
Thanks for touching base. You are a heroine.
=TW=
Good to see you back on.
My experience with my Asperger son is that every evaluation done by the school district was deeply flawed... but I put up with it so he'd get services. We do what we have to do and we do the best we can with the circumstances we are given...
As for the cataract surgery, I had both of my eyes done this year... shouldn't have put it off as long as I did. Will send prayers that your surgery goes smoothly... the biggest pain in the butt is all the drops you have to put in your eyes.
As for the Friday the 13th date, my parents met on a blind date on a Friday the 13th, they got engaged on a Friday the 13th and their whole life on every Friday the 13th they celebrated ... I remember lots of special cakes... so it can be a good day!
Take care - sending hugs!
You cannot begin to imagine my joy when I spotted your comment on Wirecutters site. (Eating bananas.) Taking a chance that you might have commented on your own site, there you were with the latest news about the Queens, eyes and other happenings.
You will get through this and we will all celebrate with you when you do.
Redheads - Have you ever been genetically tested?
I have a small percent of Neanderthal genes mixed with the Cro-Magnon - which is not uncommon for Europeans.
It's in the genes....
The Neanderthal theory - go through it and read it all. Neanderthals had a 1500cc brain vs Cro-Magnon at 1400cc.
http://www.rdos.net/eng/asperger.htm
Cavemen still exist!
https://postimg.org/image/ox5dxbi8l/
For those who may not go to the link concerning Neanderthals' -because I know these traits in my life:
In the past there have been numerous theories for the cause(s) of neurodiversity conditions like Autism, Asperger's syndrome, ADD/ADHD, OCD, Social phobia, Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Bipolar, Schizophrenia, Tourette and Dyspraxia. Most of these theories can at best explain small parts of these diverse syndromes. Many of them extend their findings in spectacular ways to be able to claim to explain larger parts of neurodiversity with little success.
This theory approaches the problem from a new radical viewpoint. Instead of approaching neurodiversity conditions as disorders, brain defects or the result of poor socialization or parenting, it claims that neurodiversity is fully functional human variation.
All the areas that are central to neurodiversity are related to species-typical adaptations that vary widely between species. These include nonverbal signals, social organization, sensory acuteness, perception, motor skills, general preferences, sexuality, courtship, physical traits and biological adaptations. Some of this diversity is poorly understood and virtually unresearched and therefore is not published in peer-reviewed journals. Because of this lack of research, Aspie Quiz, an online questionnary, is heavily referenced for these traits.
Recent genetic research have demonstrated that Neanderthals contributed at least 1-4% to the non-African genome. Aspie Quiz have demonstrated in a large survey in the US population that Afroamericans have only 1/6 of the autism incidence of non-African groups.
Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of Aspie Quiz yields axes that seems to be related to the first Eurasian Homo, the formation of modern humans in Africa or South Asia and the hybridization between modern humans and Neanderthals in Eurasia. In Caucasians, these axises seems to be 1.8 million years, 150,000 years and 33,000 years. In Asians, they seem to be 1.8 million years, 130,000 years and 44,000 years.
Thanks for stopping by and updating us! Best wishes.
Your doin' good stuff. Keep it up, until it chokes your own life, then let pro's take over.
We only have so many hours left.
Thank you for coming back and giving us all an update. Best wishes to you and your girls and all your family. Thank you for the silly picture, too.
Good to hear from you - Kristy from Garland
Thanks for dropping in & getting us caught up. Luck to you & yours.
Glad to see you've returned. My optometrist informed my several years ago "You have a small cataract in your left eye,I'm not too concerned at the moment,but we'll need to keep an eye on it."
Great ! A "punny" eye doctor.
It is good to hear from you.
I just took a chance at a quick click-look, and here you are, back in the saddle again! Heavy load to wrangle, but you're gritty and strong.
Many of us feel our the way it was said here earlier... You are a heroine.
Awesome to hear. I kept checking every few days just in case it really was me...
;)
Good to hear from you. Keep taking care of you and yours. We'll still be here.
Hey I had cataract surgery . It went great. I had cancer twice too, but that's another story
Best wishes with your eye surgery. My Dad had it done, and was out in an hour or so. Worked great.
I hear your pain on TQ's assessment, but they don't know her, they just need to get her the services she needs. So who cares what number they give her. It's not really her, it's just paperwork.
Glad to hear your update.
Thank-you for the update!
Good luck with your girl!. Our girl, now 12, is just borderline. I noticed sooner than mom, but when she started lining up all her ponys based on color and in perfect lines, I think mom noticed. We are very lucky, some after school counseling and she is really doing well and is even starting to make friends and look at people when she talks to them.
Prayers.
Thank you for checking in! Take care of yourself and enjoy your 'new' eyesight :-)
You are going to be amazed how your life improves post cataract surgery. Glad to hear you got TQ into the program. Watch how things improve in November after your eyes heal.
Glad things are going well, best wishes to you and yours!
Best of look! No, seriously, good luck with the eye surgeries.
Glad to see you again, haven't checked your page lately as it sounded like you were done blogging. Hope you keep coming back! We've been missing you.
Someone has to keep wirecutter from getting too big for his britches!
Good to hear you're getting your eyes sorted.
It's no fun trying to insult your driving skills without you there to tell us where to go afterwards.
Good luck on all the rest.
Here's looking at you, kid.
Poor thing's gonna check back on her inactive site one day and someone will have dropped the e and the t from Libertarian...
Glad to see that you are back and things are starting to get a little better. Good luck with your girls.
So glad you posted and glad to hear and glad to hear that everyone is doing okay! Glad to hear you're having those eyes taken care of too!
Take care and happy birthday and many hugs!
What a nice surprise.
...so glad to hear from you Angel!...Miss you...my eye doc says I'll need cataract surgery in about ten years...keep us posted...Donnie McCollor
So sad for TQ...I could see it coming as I read along...I just wanted to take the diagnostician out in the hall and say "WTF?! You did go to school for this shit, right?" Deep sigh...It will be OK, cuz TQ's got you, and you is so cool! Ma had the cataract surgery like many years ago. WOW! Went from big glasses and big print books to regular print and light reading glasses. Amazing what they can do for eyes these days. Keep plodding forward, one step at a time, and remember, when times get tough, there's always Bacon and RS to dream about!
Big, warm ,furry bear hugs!
Keep checking ; miss you' re blogging!
may you regain your eyesight
then me visits in daylight
whatever may you be happy
heh
that terrible alien menace
Wildflower
Thanks for the update. With your eyesight problems writing must be a hard task. I had both eyes done for cataracts a couple of years ago. They not only fixed that but the toric lenses corrected very bad astigmatism as well. You will weep at the improvement in your life. You deseve all the good that can come your way.
Cheers
Michael in Nelson
welcome back missed y'all.
God bless you, Angel.
come here every nite to see if your good and posting again. Cause you are one of our own, here in the upper Highlands of Texas. Miss Ya.
Around ten years ago I had cataracts removed from both eyes and had new lenses installed at the same time. After wearing glasses since I was five I was ecstatic that I did not need readers. I consider it one of the bet things I have ever done for myself. I hope you are as happy.
Miss yah.
Hang in, you and they will make it through.
I hear that when the "S" sandwhich is served, you now get a choice of mustard or mayo. It is a small thing....
StLMO 10/9/17
God Bless you and your family and thanks for the update.
I hope your surgery goes perfect tomorrow. I had both eyes done as well. 100 years ago we would both be blind.
Steve in KY
Checking in on ya. what's happening now?
Umm...hello?
...you there?
...sigh.
Miss you
So glad I checked in. The update is encouraging and know we all got yer back and miss you. Take care darlin'.
Loves,
Ace
It's been almost 2 months, you still ok?
And here it is, Christmas already
I stopped by to wish you and the girls a Merry Christmas honey, we haven't forgotten you.
;)
Phil
I hope all is well with you.
Leave a comment a Wirecutter's place once in a while and let us know that you are OK.
I just read WC's post about your great loss.
I have no words....other than i am so sorry. The blog world grieves for and with you.
Peace and love to you and your family,
Humbly yours,
Daniel (.45-70)
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