When we began this journey, I shared a list of the life skills (see link below) a person should have to gain independence. It’s a long list. And while I am a professional special ed advocate and this subject is my passion, I am not an expert in everything on this list. Nor am I …
Participation in the community is important for everyone, but for those with disabilities, it can be essential. Being active in the community allows a person to be visible, allows a person to be seen in light of their abilities, rather than their disabilities, and it provides social interaction and fellowship. Volunteerism can help build a …
If you know me personally, you probably know that I am a very politically involved person. I have worked for, volunteered for, and given money to candidates. I vote in local elections. I vote in midterms. I have firm policy positions. When Annie was 3, and just beginning to speak (thank you Rainbow Pediatric Rehab), …
Last week, I had the opportunity to sneak out for a long hike with a friend. Annie was asleep when I left, and I had intended to give her the day off. Instead, she surprised me by texting to say she was going to cook pasta. (Don’t panic, her dad was in the house.) After …
Today in Transition Skills, we continued with cooking. Annie made Nutella pancakes. I would love for Annie to learn to bake from scratch. This adventure is about her, though, and not about my secret childhood to be Laura Ingalls. Instead, we are being practical. Since Annie doesn’t really eat many baked goods and doesn’t like …
Last night/today’s activity is using the slow cooker to make one of Annie’s favorite foods – Korean style pot roast. I spent much of my childhood living in Asia and grew up eating Korean food. I’ve passed the love on to my kids, but even so, with Annie’s limited food preferences, I am always surprised …
Everyone has had a plot twist that provides them with brown water, a power outage, or heat that isn’t working. There’s a logic chain that you walk through to assess the problem, and get the help you need to fix it. Take a minute to think about how confusing that can be. You have no …
Transition Skills: When Utilities aren’t working Read More »
Today, Annie and I went one step further with the “how money is spent” theme we’ve been on this week. We came up with a mock budget. Don’t @me about the numbers, please – these are very hypothetical. (Annie did insist on looking up the prices for the groceries, though) In her scenario, Annie is …
Annie and I were going to do “budgeting a grocery list” today, but when I was recapping from yesterday, she hadn’t absorbed the question of how a job is related to money. (Which is valid, I think some employers haven’t absorbed that either.) Annie does chores for which she receives an allowance, so I was …
Bills are hard to explain, and hard to understand for someone who has never paid them. For Annie, who once informed a therapist that people get money by “finding it on the ground”, understanding bills means also understanding how money works. This will be a long process for us. We decided to start with utilities, …
