Joshua's new school, and my Dad?

Joshua has had a really hard time with school ever since he's been in it. I always had a nagging feeling that the stern, military way that his teacher was acting was a big part of it. It turns out I was probably right.

Joshua is now going to the school he's actually supposed to be in for where we live now. There is a new teacher there, and she has had over 10 years experience with children with autism. She's really worked wonders with him. Before, he was not allowed near the other children much, mostly because he wouldn't deal with them like he should and was completely inappropriate and outrageous. Now he in the main part of the classroom, participating directly with a small class of other students and because of the teachers methods. He also has two classroom assistants that he gets along with very well. Overall, it's going MUCH more smoothly than ever before. And because Joshua is kept busy in school, when he gets home, he is acting much better as well. He went shopping with us at Walmart (which can sometimes be a disaster) and acting very well the entire time.

On another note, I've never met my father...ever. It's not a situation where it was his fault either, so no blame towards him. Just recently, my wife and I decided to hunt him down. We are almost completely sure that he is the right person, and we have been talking quite a bit for the last week on the phone. He's a very nice man, definitely. It was a little awkward at first, but it's slowly getting easier to talk to him. He had a stroke about 5 years ago, and at first did not remember anything about my mother. After my mom and I talked to him though, he starting remembering things, not only about her, but other things that he had forgotten as well.

His lawyer advised him to have our DNA tested, to confirm that he's my father, and of course I consented to it. As soon as the lawyer contacts me and has it set up, I guess we'll find out for sure. Either way, we are getting along well enough that he wants to keep in touch, even if he finds out he isn't my father. Pretty cool.

Oh! And I almost forgot. My wife and I did some investigating along with the police and figured out who maimed our poor old van. He was caught, with the part (which didn't even properly fit the van he was going to put it on!) and he was arrested and we now have the part back. We had it towed to the shop and finally have our old run down van back! It cost us around $240 to get the master cylinder put back on and new brake lines put in. NOT easy to save up to get a newer van when you keep having to spend money on a falling apart one, just to get around.

We've been fundraising for saving up for a new van, and keeping the other one patched up until we can. Gofundme only adds you to the directory where we can get more exposure if we raise $100. We are about $30 short of that, so any help would be very appreciated.

http://www.gofundme.com/HelpMcDowellVan

Joshua in school ... and master brake cylinder cut out of van.

Joshua has been doing relatively well in school. He definitely NEEDED to get back into it. The summer break tends to bore him a lot, and he tends to have more problems. But this is the 4th day he's been back and he's doing mostly well. At home, he tends to be more relaxed and less apt to meltdown. It's been a pretty good week for him.

And then today, the rest of the family decided to get into the van to go to the store. It was fine, until I put on the brakes to get ready to back up. Or tried to. They went all the way to the floor. I went to pull the hood latch, and it had already been pulled. I lifted the hood...and the air filter and a hose were laying on the engine. Then I looked down farther, and the brake lines were cut and the master brake cylinder was surgically removed. It's obvious someone with a vehicle that uses the same parts as mine, removed it so that they could use it on their own vehicle.

I mean, hell, it's only a $40 part. The problem is, I'm no mechanic. I can't repair the break line, replace the master cylinder, bleed the fluid, or whatever else has to be done. It'll cost $200 to $300 to get it fixed, and I can't really afford to when the van is already in pretty bad shape and probably not worth fixing.

There is a special place in hell for people that strand a family with 2 autistic children by stealing from them and disabling their only means of transportation.

Beginning of the month

The first few days of the month are always hectic for us, as we're usually broke up til that point and have to rush out and buy food, diapers, or whatever else we end up needing. And we tend to do it all at once!

Joshua's ABA worker decided to come with us to Walmart for our BIG shopping trip. I usually need to hold Joshua's hand while in the store, as it's hard to tell if he is going to run off or grab everything in sight. We decided to not hold his hand, as long as he would stay close to me and follow or walk beside of me.

He followed directions pretty well for a while. Eventually he decided he wasn't going to cooperate anymore and the ABA worker got me to hold his hand again. He thrashed and yelled for a minute, but we made it clear that until he acted responsibly, I would not let go to let him walk on his own. After just a minute or two, he relaxed and was able to walk without me holding onto him again.

He had to hold my hand again about 2 times during the trip, but not for too long. For being a boring, 2 hour long shopping trip, he did pretty darned well. And so did the ABA worker! I'm really surprised that she stuck with it for that long. I'm sure she will not volunteer for another store trip with us any time soon.

Things should be calming down a little bit here as we get more breaks with the children being in school. Jacob will be going a week after Joshua, as he goes to a special school with lots of extra help for children with special needs, and it takes them a little longer to be prepared. His teacher also does home visits to see how he acts in his home environment compared to school, although he had the same teacher last year as well, so she knows him pretty well.

Joshua already had the chance to see his new school teacher twice now, and one of the kids in the class he knows from before. He also will have the same bus driver that he had before, so hopefully, it won't take him too long to adjust to starting school again. We will see!