Phase 2: Adulthood....."In Progress"

We hear stories about autism when they are “out-of-the-ordinary”. The likes of Dr. Temple Grandin, Ron Suskind “Reaching my autistic son through Disney” or autistic artist Stephen Wiltshire who is able to draw cityscapes following short helicopter rides over cities. But…

What if your child is somewhere in the “middle” of the spectrum?

What if your child may need some type of support for the rest of their life?

What if your child is not “out-of-the-ordinary”?

OR

What if your child will NOT be going on to a post secondary school?
What if your child is NOT ready for paid employment?

OR

What if your child is eligible for funding but there are no monies available?

What if your child is eligible for services but there are no services available?

What then???

What happens in the next 5-10 years when the wave of 1 in 68 (in the US) diagnosed ASD kids are finishing high school and entering adulthood?  Scary isn’t it.

If you are a parent of a younger child; if you are anything like I was…you are probably running off screaming incoherently in the opposite direction. If you are still reading…WOW!! Please leave a comment as to what type of medication you are on so I can get some too  ;) OR if it helps…you can read all about my angst when Riley finished school FOREVER, why we decided to take a “Gap” year and what turning 19 looked like in Riley World.

With our “Gap” year behind us, we are ready to move ahead with this adulthood thing. I am excited to start sharing with you some of our plans for "Riley World: Adulthood" in the coming weeks/months. As my friend Liane Kupferberg Carter wrote in her article “Loosening the Ties that Bind: Growing Up with Autism”:

“But we must. And we will figure out what comes next. We will do this just as we have done everything else these past twenty years. Pulling together as a family.”

~Liane Kupferberg Carter

Yes we will. And as a community we need to start planning for the 1 in 68 diagnosed ASD kids who are coming behind us. We need to start thinking outside the box.

Image Credit

I hope you'll come back and follow the next phase of Riley World. 

Sometimes it’s the little things…

It’s not always the big things in Riley World that can confuse me. Like...

  

Why does he like to watch the same 7 sec sequence of a movie over and over AND OVER again?!?!? 
OR    

Why does he fold/pile his underwear in a certain order?!?!?  

Nope. Not always.  Sometimes it's just the little things. Like...

Why does he smell so bad?!?!?

I may not have the answers to the first two questions BUT…I do for the third. Yup. Cause I’m an awesome and veteran autism mom. That’s me.

Whenever Riley has ummmm “teen scent” and is in need of assistance, all I have to do is say “I think you need to put on some deodorant” and he replies with “I’m stinky! Bleeeech!!!” and off he goes to put on some deodorant. Problem solved.

Yesterday I had to remind him about 4 times. This hasn’t happened since puberty! WTH!?!?! 

Today I just happened to be in his bathroom when he came in to de-stink and I noticed this…

I wonder how long he’s been scratching his pits raw?!?!?  

On the schedule this week....Stick Deodorant Basics 101.  ;)

G's "Hiding Spot" has been Compromised!!

Look what we found in the corner cupboard over the holidays.

If you are new to Riley World here’s an explanation as to why we hide packages of Mr. Noodles. I can wait until you get back. Really. *whistling and twiddling fingers* 

The one and only difference between the boxes that G makes up and the ones from the store is the cello-wrapping. Minor detail right???  Baaahaaahaaa!!!

Now every so often Riley likes to throw us a curve ball. Life can chug along in Riley World for days, months and sometimes years and then…just when you think all is smooth sailing…BAM! All of a sudden he decides to change the rules. Fair enough. We do this to him all the time. But…but…WTH!!! 

When we first realized that Riley had discovered G’s hiding spot and starting putting flawed (in R’s eyes) packages in there too we were amused and even proud…sneaky monkey.

Until it…well…it got out of control. As in THIRTY (30) packages of Mr. Noodles out of control!!

G figured out that R was “hiding” only the reboxed packages and came up with the idea to remove the cello-wrap from the boxes as soon as we got home from the store so that all the boxes would look the same. Believe it or not…it worked!

As G and I get older our old non-energy efficient incandescent light bulbs are operating at about 40W at best so why he never came up with this idea sooner…your guess is as good as mine.  ;)

I Met a Boy...

22 years ago I met a boy. Even though I never dreamed it could happen to me…it was love at first sight. He had brown eyes, brown hair and when he would wrap his fingers around mine my heart would melt.

22 years ago my life changed forever. You have taught me many things through the years. I have questioned many things I have done along the way. I only have one more question…are you ever going to move out???  ;)

Happy 22nd J2!!  

Love, Me