Day 350

A couple of years ago I did a project with 30 middle school students with disabilities. They were asked to draw/write about one of their goals, short or long term, on a paper leaf, which were hung on a tree at WSU. I wanted to show a few responses because I think they're encouraging and/or revealing, such as the last one. A 13-year-old boy shouldn't be concerned about getting through his day. It made me wonder if these kids were ever asked this question and encouraged to pursue their goals or if their label had already tainted their confidence and future...

Day 343

I was looking at the photos in my apartment and realized that I have four pictures of Kelt at different stages of his life. It's unbelievable to compare his past behaviors to his recent accomplishments, especially in terms of his original diagnosis: Your child will always be mentally retarded. It's pretty obvious that he's defied this prognosis. His senior year is a testimony in itself, from joining the Honor Society, winning Homecoming king, placing 8th at the state wrestling tournament, to getting the Juror's Choice award at the high school art show, etc. I couldn't be more proud of him or our family. He's surpassed numerous expectations, but now we have to figure out what's next. It's another stage of his life that's going to be challenging and force us to be creative, but we'll eventually figure it out.

Day 282

A couple months ago my Mom and I went to a transition conference in Bellingham to learn more about post-secondary options for Kelt. This is one of the worksheets that we got, but just had Kelt fill it out today. I thought some of his choices were interesting, especially the fact that he chose child-care out of options such as computer work, sporting goods, bookstore, mall, grocery store, and pet care, etc. I never thought he'd enjoy working with kids. I would like to do more activities like this one with him to get ideas for next year.