November 2017--Tammy Hardy and Kirby Hogenmiller
Our second meeting of eParent Support used a new location--the Movie Room of the Waterford Apartments. We had a cozier group because of the Thanksgiving holiday, but we still had exceptional sharing and speaking.
Tammy Hardy, a para-educator who works for the Livermore School District, spoke from the aide's perspective. Her main emphasis was communication: Teacher to Parent, Aide to Parent, Student to Teacher/Aides. She said the classroom personnel welcome the communication. They are only with your child for five hours, and they need to see the complete picture of what makes your child tick. One attendee said that aides are not encouraged to speak with parents. Tammy had not heard of this. Perhaps Randy Booker's "donut trick" (see the October post) would help in that situation.
Another recommendation was to enroll your child in a hobby-type class, such as computer coding or art. That would offer a break from all the academics, and could be an avenue for social interaction. For instance, one of Tammy's students was in a computer class and was stuck on a problem. Another student patiently helped him through the problem. This built the esteem of both.
One reassuring point that Tammy made was that the School District wants to mainstream Special Ed students. The benefits of peer interaction and general public interactions are very valuable to the students, and the School District wants to encourage that.
Kirby Hogenmiller, an autistic adult, came up next to speak about "My Life's Purpose." He took us on the journey of his growing up, a very touching and heart-rending journey. My biggest take-away was that throughout his life, there were people who stuck by him and would not give up on him. His mom was a "Rock star" for him. She would push him to be more than he thought he could be, as if to discredit the early diagnosis that she received in the maternity room. His dad also provided support so that he could be enrolled in any program that his mom thought would be beneficial.
Early in his life, a speech pathologist stuck by him, even when he would hide under a table and not have anything to do with her. His speech pathologist became for him a life tutor or a life coach, A resource teacher in his high school pushed him, practically tricked him, into trying out for JV football. His JV football coach became another great help for him. In fact, football was a turning point for him in terms of relationships. Up until then, he had the hardest time building friendships, struggling with great loneliness. In the football huddle, he found his teammates joking around, and he found that he had a shared interest, video games.
With all that as a backdrop, Kirby realized that he received the greatest joy in working with other Special Needs children, because he could relate so much to what they were experiencing. He had a chance to work at the Hope Technology School, a full-inclusion school for typical and Special Needs students. He now plans to become a speech therapist and is attending Cal State East Bay, working toward that goal. He wants to fill the role in another kid's life that his speech pathologist did in his. His dream is that no child would grow up experiencing the hurt that he had.
With that, we concluded our second meeting.
Other resources mentioned in our meeting:
E-Sports (eSoccer, eKarate, eDance)
Tammy Hardy, a para-educator who works for the Livermore School District, spoke from the aide's perspective. Her main emphasis was communication: Teacher to Parent, Aide to Parent, Student to Teacher/Aides. She said the classroom personnel welcome the communication. They are only with your child for five hours, and they need to see the complete picture of what makes your child tick. One attendee said that aides are not encouraged to speak with parents. Tammy had not heard of this. Perhaps Randy Booker's "donut trick" (see the October post) would help in that situation.
Another recommendation was to enroll your child in a hobby-type class, such as computer coding or art. That would offer a break from all the academics, and could be an avenue for social interaction. For instance, one of Tammy's students was in a computer class and was stuck on a problem. Another student patiently helped him through the problem. This built the esteem of both.
One reassuring point that Tammy made was that the School District wants to mainstream Special Ed students. The benefits of peer interaction and general public interactions are very valuable to the students, and the School District wants to encourage that.
Kirby Hogenmiller, an autistic adult, came up next to speak about "My Life's Purpose." He took us on the journey of his growing up, a very touching and heart-rending journey. My biggest take-away was that throughout his life, there were people who stuck by him and would not give up on him. His mom was a "Rock star" for him. She would push him to be more than he thought he could be, as if to discredit the early diagnosis that she received in the maternity room. His dad also provided support so that he could be enrolled in any program that his mom thought would be beneficial.
Early in his life, a speech pathologist stuck by him, even when he would hide under a table and not have anything to do with her. His speech pathologist became for him a life tutor or a life coach, A resource teacher in his high school pushed him, practically tricked him, into trying out for JV football. His JV football coach became another great help for him. In fact, football was a turning point for him in terms of relationships. Up until then, he had the hardest time building friendships, struggling with great loneliness. In the football huddle, he found his teammates joking around, and he found that he had a shared interest, video games.
With all that as a backdrop, Kirby realized that he received the greatest joy in working with other Special Needs children, because he could relate so much to what they were experiencing. He had a chance to work at the Hope Technology School, a full-inclusion school for typical and Special Needs students. He now plans to become a speech therapist and is attending Cal State East Bay, working toward that goal. He wants to fill the role in another kid's life that his speech pathologist did in his. His dream is that no child would grow up experiencing the hurt that he had.
With that, we concluded our second meeting.
Other resources mentioned in our meeting:
E-Sports (eSoccer, eKarate, eDance)
Is this group still active? I help to lead a parent-run AS/NLD Parent Support Group that meets in Lafayette. Our group focuses on high school, college, public services, DOR, Regional Center, Special Needs Trusts, medical care, social issues, SSI, etc. But we often receive inquiries about if there is a support group for parents with younger ASD students. Would love to connect with you.
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