Monthly Archives: June 2017
ABA Provider Report, June 2017
Hi loyal readers, Going to spend this week quoting liberally, but not authoritatively, from Dar’s ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) Provider’s report that we were given this month. If you’re one of those glass-half-full people, you can see this report as helpfully making sure that Dar continues to receive services, or perhaps you can see this as “WHEW! Glad my kid doesn’t get judged like this.” If you’re one of those glass-half-empty people, you can see this report as a whole…
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Bye Bye Bipartisanship
Political parties aren’t written into the Constitution. They came about almost organically as members of President Washington’s Cabinet jockeyed for power. After the first election in which parties truly threatened to bifurcate the Republic, the new President said, “We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists.” Ever since Thomas Jefferson spoke those words in his inaugural address, the following 41 Presidents have duly followed his example, for their own selfish reasons as much as any other. Men gestured toward working…
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The War for Mars United, Chapter 23: The New Dagreb Perimeter
Julia Maciel jogged around the perimeter of the snow globe. She checked her ring: eight kilometers done. Two more to go. Running had become Julia’s favorite thing to do in New Dagreb. While jogging, Julia found she could simultaneously clear her head and marvel at the wonder that was a snow globe floating in the middle of the living lava bed of Olympus Mons. On the edge of the dome, where she was, a mere five-meter layer of hafnium-nitrogen-carbon-alloy stood…
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First Grade Finish Line
Hey parents! What do you do with all that stuff that the school sends home on the last week of school? I’ve got books, journals (with literal scribbles, no words), various reading guides, and all kinds of other paperwork including a “Top Five Moments of 2016-2017” montage: Exploratorium, Music with Lisa Z., Girls Basketball, Adventure Playground, Tilden Little Farm. In Dar’s case, he truly wouldn’t mind if I threw it all away. He doesn’t even take a second glance at photos…
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1 in 1000
Let’s talk about 1000 people. Everyone is their own snowflake, sure, but there are things 1 will do that the other 999 never will. There are things that the 999 will do that a certain kind of 1 never will. Indulge me on this for a minute. You know 1000 people. For example, your facebook friends + people you know who aren’t on facebook. There are at least another 1000 people that you’ve heard of, but don’t know personally. Let’s…
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The War for Mars United, Chapter 22: The Auditorium
SIX MONTHS LATER From a distance, the dogfight between Mars United and the separatists looked like a thousand microbes, as seen through a microscope, exposed to increasing heat. In other words, total chaos at 5,000 meters above Mars’ surface. Bang! Smash! Whoosh! Crash! Jets roared around the sky, firing, dodging, and sometimes getting pulverized. Technically, this was the way Mars United wanted it. M.U. had no chance in a battle fought in regulated formation. M.U. had to make the A.A.…
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A Pause for Applause
On one recent day in Tahoe, two unrelated people met Dar, tried to chat him up, and separately marveled, wow, you’ve really taught him well to never speak to strangers! Ha. That’s an opening joke, not relevant to today’s post. Today I want to tell you about Dar’s hand-clapping. He doesn’t clap hands like you and me. No, this is where his latent cerebral palsy really manifests itself. He sort of holds his left hand like it has an invisible…
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10 Quick, Unmade Points about “Wonder Woman”
Everyone is talking about Wonder Woman, but nobody is saying what I’m thinking. Before going any further here, you should read a review or two from a source you trust, and also read some of the many excellent and contentious think-pieces (not reviews, not suppliers of Rotten Tomatoes scores, but think-pieces) that have sprung up in reaction to the film. All caught up? Great. Here’s ten little things that none of the reviews or think-pieces said: 1) Without taking anything away…
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The War for Mars United, Chapter 21: The First Spaceship
Prime Minister Norine Maciel looked out the window as the First Spaceship taxied around New Moscow’s Space Port. Half the passenger bay remained undamaged; the Senators viewed their needed feeds of information. Norine glanced down at stats that Chatterjee had gathered from Colonel Oltman. 3% chance of New Moscow stopping the First Spaceship before it left the bio-dome. 7% chance of New Moscow firing on the First Spaceship outside the bio-dome and claiming it was self-defense. She only had to…
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How Autism Prepared Me For 45
Every day is a new outrage. Fatigue is setting in. How long are you expected to marshal all your resources against this problem? I mean, doesn’t Oprah say to cut toxicity out of your life? Does the phrase “banging your head against a wall” mean nothing to you? How about “taking a bucket to an ocean”? Even easier: “Get over it,” or in the ancient words of Elsa of Frozen, “Let it go.” If this person were your employee, you’d…
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