Scooby-Doo

I know I'm very behind on my blog posts, and I apologize for that. I'm very busy right now with homeschooling, therapy, packing, job hunting, and planning a move. I have been taking notes, and those notes will be turned into posts and published as soon as I have a chance.

This post, however, has nothing to do with any of that. This post is about my youngest, called Scooby-Doo (his favorite cartoon at the time of the creation of this blog) on this blog. I believed I've mentioned before that he was recently diagnosed with autism. If I didn't for some reason, you now know. It's honestly not something that crosses my mind much, so I do forget sometimes that people don't know.

His autism is the reason why he needs therapy, and is the reason why he is now on meds that he needs to take everyday. These meds help him cope with being easily overstimulated and overwhelmed.

While our family has had no problem adjusting to the news about Scooby-Doo (actually, there was no adjustment) others in our lives HAVE had a hard time adjusting. This has been causing me a lot of stress lately, which prompted me to make the following post on my private facebook page.

A friend of mine said she wished the post was on a public blog so others could read it. I decided to take up her advice and to share it here:

Lately I have been very stressed out. The reasons why are many, and, yet, at the same time… not. All of you know (since I posted it on facebook) that Scooby-Doo has been diagnosed with autism recently and is now on medication for it on top of his therapy. What many of you probably don’t know is that nothing has changed. And I don’t mean nothing has changed with Scooby-Doo (after all, the medicine and therapy are helping him) what I mean is nothing has changed with me (or Coffee Hound, Optimus Prime, and Bumblebee). There were no breakdowns, no sorrow, no denial, no self-blaming, no anger, no… anything. Life continued on as normal for us. Scooby-Doo has autism. So what? Last time I checked he was still the same kid I tucked into bed the night before we got his diagnosis. Nothing has changed.

Does his autism stress me out? Nope. You know what stresses me out? The fact that he could touch a piece of food and die because two epi-pens are not enough medication before an ambulance gets there. I’ve been told, because of my attitude, that I’m “in denial” or that it “hasn’t hit me yet.” No. It “hasn’t hit me” because there is nothing TO hit me. I’m not “in denial” because there is nothing TO deny.

Let me tell you what Scooby-Doo is.

Scooby-Doo is, and has been for his entire life, an AMAZING boy.

Scooby-Doo is the most loving, sweet, affectionate child I have EVER known. I have known some kids (who are now grown) who were glued to my hip so bad I considered major surgery. Let me tell you, they had NOTHING on Scooby-Doo. As a baby all he ever wanted to do was cuddle and be loved, and as a four year old boy nothing has changed.

Scooby-Doo has major hero worship for his big brothers. As far as he is concerned, if they can do it, he can do it too. Which, has led to me getting quite pissed at Optimus Prime and Bumblebee a few times...

Scooby-Doo has no fear. If he thinks he can do something (whether or not it is something he has previously seen his big brothers do) he is determined to prove to me he CAN do it. He is an incredible swimmer - far better than his brothers are. He is eager to get better so he can swim without his swimmies, and he LOVES leaving the shallow, kiddie section of the pool to go swim and stretch in the deep, adult section.

Scooby-Doo loves cartoons. Scooby-Doo, Snoopy, Care Bears, Thomas the Tank Engine, Dora the Explorer, Diego… he loves them all.

Scooby-Doo loves animals. He loves petting and kissing our “kee-kat”s and trying to ride (our very poor, very old, blind) “dog-E”. He has recently discovered that he likes dinosaurs, and is trying to learn the names and features of them.

Scooby-Doo loves schoolwork. He loves soaking up new knowledge. He loves counting, he loves singing his abc’s, he loves practicing his abc’s. He is crazy about dot-to-dot’s (which, he sometimes likes to do backwards) and mazes. He loves having books read to him. He loves memorizing books so he can read them to himself or me.

Now, let me tell you what Scooby-Doo is not.

Scooby-Doo is not autism. Scooby-Doo is not speech therapy. Scooby-Doo is not a string of milestones that need to be met before a certain age.

So stop treating him, and talking about him, like he is.

His disease does NOT define him, he defines his disease. And you need to realize this. And you need to stop this.

I have been very stressed out and very busy lately. And what I realized is, what is stressing me out, is everyone else’s reactions to the news about Scooby-Doo. What is stressing me out is how Scooby-Doo went from a little boy who was normal to a little boy who is “sick” and “needs to be fixed”.

No.

Scooby-Doo is fine.

What is wrong here, is everyone else.

I’m not “in denial”. There is no news that “hasn’t hit me yet”. I’m fine, Scooby-Doo is fine. What is going on here is YOU have a problem. And you need to fix it.

I get it, it’s hard trying to figure out how to handle a situation where someone is sick or has a disability. No, wait, it’s not that hard. What you do is start by NOT harping on that fact. It’s pretty simple, actually. So, no, I don’t get it.

What I have come to realize here is that I’m not the one with the problem, it’s you.

So, let me tell you how it is now going to be from now on. I won’t be answering any more questions about Scooby-Doo that have to do with his autism, his speech therapy, his doctor appointments, his psychiatrist appointments, his ANYTHING autism related. If you feel that it is your business and you have every right to ask these questions, let me assure you right here and right now that it is NOT your business and I WILL end any conversation with you immediately if you bring it up. If you are reading this and you feel that it does not apply to you, let me assure you that EVERY WORD I have written here DOES apply to you.

Scooby-Doo is not his disease. Stop treating him like he is.

Two Week Review: January 11 - 24

Our final two weeks of this super easy schedule!!! Thank goodness... Of course, we also spent these two weeks sick, making it hared to get things done, and it looks like our week off is going to be spent sick as well... Hopefully we'll be better in February...

So, I have nothing to talk about. I'm just so happy this quarter is OVER with that I'm going to breeze through everything.

Scooby-Doo finished his magazines. He loves them a lot, but I think he'll be happy to see a return of worksheets.

Optimus Prime and Bumblebee learned about Ancient China & Chinese Mythology (both are in the same post like our Native American units). They also had their easy math pages, number review, spelling, made some color books, did some dot-to-dots and mazes, had story time, practiced their reading, etc.

A very nice, easy final two weeks. Which was probably good since we were so sick.

Next quarter, here we come!!!

Concept Weeks #27 & 28: Ancient China and Chinese Mythology

My kids love the Disney movie Mulan so I figured it was time for some units focusing on that era of China. We actually could have turned this into a three week unit while also focusing on Modern China or even a four week unit with another week on Chinese Holidays, but I think for now two weeks was good.

For our Ancient China half we had three books:

• Our Cultural Heritage: Chinese Americans by Lucia Raatma 
• Country File: China by Michael March
• DK Eyewitness: Ancient China

The first one really wasn't relevant to our unit, I just picked it up because our library had pretty much ZERO books on China for kids. The second book focused more on modern China, but it did talk a bit about history with things like the Great Wall. So, it was slightly relevant. I did find some worksheets covering traditional clothing, important landmarks, famous women (Wu Zetian), the flag, etc. So, the unit didn't focus entirely on me reading to them. Some parts really bored them, some really interested them. When it came to the third book they were really fascinated about some of the things we learned. They loved the Chinese invention that detected earthquakes, and they loved looking at the pictures.

They REALLY liked the Mythology half. Our book was Chinese Mythology by Irene Collier and they LOVED the stories in it. Most of our mythology units have covered European mythology. When we did Egyptian mythology in our Ancient Egypt unit they really liked that, and when we did Native American Mythology it was pretty much 50/50 on what they liked and didn't like. But for Chinese mythology, they really loved most of the stories we read. This unit was a MUCH bigger hit than the Native American one. So much of that they just couldn't relate to or get. Clearly I need to go buy a Pocahontas movie or something...

Overall I would say that both units were a huge success.

Two Week Review: December 28 - January 10

These two weeks were pretty much the same as the last two weeks. I can't wait for our workload to increase in a month here, I'm going crazy with this super easy schedule!!!

So, Scooby-Doo adjusted to his autism medication. We went back to the doctor's and he thinks we've found the right dosage. He's still been working on his magazines. Some days he is really into it, other days not so much. I think he was happy to have a lighter workload for a bit, but I think he's ready to move on to more pages. Now, I'm not sure he actually wants to DO those pages, but he likes to sit on my lap while I talk to him about them.

As for Optimus Prime and Bumblebee for our Concept Weeks we covered Horses and Volcanoes & Earthquakes. We also did easy math pages, number review, worked on their letter book, did some fun dot-to-dots and mazes, and read some Scooby-Doo and Thomas the Tank Engine stories. And, of course, they practiced their reading. I think Optimus Prime might be ready for chapter books soon!!!

Another nice, easy two weeks. They might like this easy schedule, but I am BEYOND ready to move on!

Concept Week #26: Volcanoes & Earthquakes

Okay, I'd be lying if I said I had a ton of stuff to talk about, here. I'm not even sure I can fake it.

My kids find volcanoes exciting (who doesn't?!? - from a safe distance) so I went to the library to look for book on them. Most of their kids books were not on the same level as Optimus Prime & Bumblebee so I took out DK: Volcano & Earthquake. We read that book, they learned quite a bit about earthquakes that they didn't know before, but they really didn't learn anything new about volcanoes. They already knew the difference between magma and lava (one is under ground, the other above ground), they already knew that ash comes out of the volcano too, they already knew about the moving plates under the earth, etc. They did not know that ash is good for the soil (so long as the soil isn't incredibly buried by it) or that volcanoes don't have to be mountains, so there was that, but most of what we learned about was review for them. Even the earthquake section of the book didn't have much information in it that they didn't already know. Don't get me wrong - it was a great book filled with incredible information & pictures - it was just all stuff they had already learned on their own. I also had a hard time finding ANY age appropriate worksheets for them. In the end we did a volcano dot-to-dot and a maze to help lava reach the ocean. I know, not exactly second grade material.

With that said, I AM glad we did a unit on it, I just wish we had learned more.

Concept Week #25: Horses

We had a LOT of books for this unit! Not so many worksheets, though.

For our main books we had DK Eyewitness Books: Horse, I Wonder Why: Horses Wear Shoes and Other Questions About Horses by Jackie Gaff, and DK See How They Grow: Pony.

Then, we had these other books in the Horse Breed Roundup series:

• The American Paint Horse 
• The American Quarter Horse
• The American Saddlebred Horse
• The Appaloosa Horse 
• The Arabian Horse
• The Clydesdale Horse 
• The Shetland Pony
• The Spanish Mustang
• The Tennessee Walking Horse
• The Thoroughbred Horse

Those books we did not read cover to cover, we just enjoyed the pictures and read the parts we wanted to.

Then, they read to me Farm Animals: Horses by Emily K. Green.

Like I said, a LOT of books!

So, we learned about horse babies, horse shoes, the different horse breeds and why they were created (horses for war, horses for speed, horses for endurance, horses for trails, etc). We learned that horses prefer to live in groups instead of alone, we learned that horses develop strong bonds with their humans, and we even learned about some of the prehistoric horses out that used to be out there (and, how they had more than one toe/hoof on each foot!!!). It was a GREAT unit packed with so much information I don't even know what to mention in this post! There was just too much!

2nd Grade Reading List Part 3

YAY! Reading List! I got nothing to say, except:

• Next quarter Optimus Prime is going to try reading chapter books on his own!!! This quarter he's doing mostly review for his reading.
• Bumblebee STILL isn't reading good. I'm beginning to suspect dyslexia, but we're taking him to the eye doctors to rule that out first.

Also, somehow we missed these two books from last quarter (though, we still surpassed our goal of 16 books):

• Magic Tree House: Revolutionary War on Wednesday
• Magic Tree House: Twister on Tuesday

And, here is our reading goal (still 16 books):

• The Berenstain Bears and the School Scandal Sheet
• The Berenstain Bears and the Wheelchair Commando
• Clue Jr.: The Case of the Mystery Ghost
• Clue Jr.: The Case of the Karate Chop
• Magic Tree House Fact Tracker: Ghosts
• Magic Tree House Fact Tracker: Dinosaurs
• Magic Tree House Fact Tracker: Ninjas and Samurai
• Magic Tree House Fact Tracker: Space
• Batman: Killer Croc Hunter
• Batman: Scarecrow, Doctor of Fear
• Superman: The Deadly Double
• Superman: The Shrinking City
• The Magic School Bus: Voyage to the Volcano
• The Magic School Bus: Rocky Road Trip
• Ballpark Mysteries: The Pinstripe Ghost
• Ballpark Mysteries: The L. A. Dodger

We also have a new book report layout. I'm going to do a post on our changing book reports once I get a chance.