Tag Archives: developmental disability

On the Job Hunt Again

01 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by in Autism, Independence, Miracles

≈ 6 Comments

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Now that the “giving” season at the homeless shelter is over, Mary is beginning her job search in earnest again. She sent out resumes a few times this fall, but now she will be sending more.

She is 27, and Goodwill and the State rehabilitation program have dropped her from their case loads. She was able, on her own, to find part-time, seasonal work with a homeless shelter, but has been unable to find a full time, regular job. She is highly valued (although not highly paid) by the homeless shelter for her skills in accounting and data entry. But her autistic features,language related learning disabilities, and inability to drive have been a barrier to regular employment.

So now that the “giving” season is over for the homeless shelter, her hours will be reduced to six hours a week. I am grateful that she has this opportunity and that she has meaningful work.

Loneliness is an issue. She has been trying to find things to do. She has been teaching herself how to draw and paint and work with chalks. We go to church. She has that social opportunity, and work is a social outlet.

I try not to fret, but that low level concern keeps niggling at the back window of my mind, trying to get in. But I need to keep in mind that the Lord has a place for Mary. She is his workmanship, his handiwork, his masterpiece created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for her to do.

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“ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10, the Bible, NIV)

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Potty training by Book

16 Saturday Nov 2013

Posted by in Achievement, Asperger's syndrome, Autism, Disability, high functioning autism, Independence

≈ 2 Comments

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When Mary went to a pre-primary impaired class, she was still having pee and poop accidents. As many of you know, she is autistic and also had mild brain damage at birth.We didn’t realize she had developmental disabilities at the time, so I thought I was an awful parent because I was not successful in one of the major tasks of parenting.

Our (un)helpful doctor suggested she would be potty trained by college…And he was right. She was potty trained by the time she went to (and graduated from) college.

Two things helped us:
1) We stumbled upon something that motivated her. She was very excited by the task of dropping pennies into a giant plastic bear bank that my father found at a garage sale. If you are having similar issues, may something serendipitously occur to you.  Praise, stickers, celebrations, etc., were useless.
2) Motor training, which we found in an old book, Toilet Training Without Tears, was helpful. It is still available on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Toilet-Training-Without-Charles-Schaefer/dp/0451192125. This book listed several methods. The one that was effective involved motor training. Every time Mary had an accident, we would go through all the motions of going potty. Go to the bathroom, pull down your pants, sit on the commode (by the time she was five, she was big enough), pull up your pants, etc. 10 times, each time. It took up a lot of my time, but after a couple of weeks, she was not happy about having to spend so much of her play time going through the motions. And each time she was successful, well, there were five pennies for the bear bank.

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