Willie @4Ever! 19 Years Strong!

Today is Willie’s 19th. Birthday. His mom, his dad, a friend, and myself will wear t-shirts representing autism. I believe Willie has an autism shirt stating that he is the birthday boy. Willie is not a boy. He is a young adult who will probably never live on his own. I can’t imagine the fear this causes his mom. The thought of what will happen to him if anything happens to her. I have not cared for Willie since the day he charged at me and knocked me down. His oldest sister is his caregiver when his mom works. But … Continue reading Willie @4Ever! 19 Years Strong!

Exclusion!

This is what Willie has experienced over the past few years. It started with holiday celebrations. Willie has been suspended during Easter, Father’s Day, and Mother’s Day. He has known about these holidays and anticipated returning to school and making crafts or coloring eggs with us, trying to explain that these activities would be over when he returned. He always insists that they will be there for him when he returns. He has been excluded from field trips for years, never having a chance to show if he’d be good during the outings. The last exclusion was his prom, with … Continue reading Exclusion!

Willie Ostracized Again!

Willie has once again been sent home from school. In special needs schools, students receive shorter breaks. Two-week school breaks are divided because transitioning back into school is disruptive to the routine of special needs children. I know it is for Willie and now his school sent him home on June 7th. 2022 and asked that he remain home until September 2022. The school’s action has been deemed illegal. Willie has been suspended an average of 5 times a year and he is unable to communicate what is triggering his outbursts in school, which always spill over to his time … Continue reading Willie Ostracized Again!

Outings With Willie: A New Day

It’s the second day of a new school week. Willie woke again today saying he didn’t want to go to school. It was another morning where he was awake around 4:30 a.m. We have no idea why he wakes during these wee hours each night. He did return to sleep after about 40 minutes. This was better than returning to sleep minutes before the alarm goes off. He asked for Cheerios, which we don’t have…then he asked for chips which we did have. His choice of foods is so limited. Willie’s mom found articles regarding the effect of Autism on … Continue reading Outings With Willie: A New Day

Outings With Willie: Snacks

So Willie wanted small chocolate chip cookies and Cheez-its. It was a beautiful day and his mom and I took him to ‘The Corner Store’ a couple of blocks away. The book bag carries Willie’s ever present bears. Willie felt pretty independent taking in the sights without his hand being held. A good tip we learned for taking Willie to the store is discussing with him exactly how many items he can get. In this case he wanted 2 specific items. After the store visit we all headed home. Willie carried his own goodies. At one point he even let … Continue reading Outings With Willie: Snacks

Willie and the Unbearable Bear Crisis

Willie is out of school on injury leave right now. He has been diagnosed with Knee Effusion, or water on the knee. As near as we can tell, there is something wrong inside his knee. This, however, is a separate incident from the bear crisis. Once upon a time Willie had four bears, a big bear, a smaller bear, a chef bear and a spotted   pink bear (really, a Cheetah) but any way…   Willie started acting out the three bears story and after a while, instead of setting the chef bear aside, the chef bear was tossed into … Continue reading Willie and the Unbearable Bear Crisis

Outings With Willie

It has been a long while since I last blogged about Willie. There have been so much going on with him. We took Willie on the bus with his niece La’miya before the weather warmed up and headed for the park. After getting off the bus, we took a detour to the ice cream stand. Willie had ice cream, La’miya watched. (Secret. La’miya did taste ice cream with her mom.) We then walked to the park where Willie and La’miya both got on the swings. Willie watched a couple of guys playing catch. Then he climbed a tree. Back home, Willie … Continue reading Outings With Willie

Willie At Home

A lot has been going on with Willie. He returns to school Monday from Christmas vacation, and he will be wearing his helmet and harness. With all the bus difficulties, they’ve switched bus aides. Willie now has the bus aide he started with in September…already there has been less complaints. Compatibility is everything. I was concerned about the harness…but the bus aide had the right idea…she told Willie it was his new bus uniform and he accepted it with no issues…the helmet he wears…but…he doesn’t like it…he tried to break it…but now seems to have accepted it. Before Christmas break, … Continue reading Willie At Home

Willie At Home

Well Willie has lost his school bus privileges until after Thanksgiving. There was a problem during a meltdown, a bus aide went to the E.R. and I’m wondering where the scratches on Willie’s face came from. I do know that in Autism, a child will not feel disciplined if you hit him, he will feel attacked. I have been spending my hours between, napping for work, and working, up at Children’s Hospital. Another death, which I will write about soon. I noticed the scratches today, and then found out that he came home with them, the day he lost his … Continue reading Willie At Home

Trick or Treat Willie

So our community had a Halloween trail on in it’s business section. The day before Halloween, there was trick or treating at Willie’s school. He went as a vampire. He left his cape in school and brought home a lot of candy that he opened, but fortunately, did not eat. This was Friday, and now he needed another cape for Halloween. Willie’s mother found one cape Friday evening and a set of teeth. So Saturday, Willie had all he needed to be a vampire. I had ordered zombie make up but I  wasn’t sure if Willie would allow his face … Continue reading Trick or Treat Willie