In 2006 I wrote of Patty's and my choice to homeschool our son Trevor to help provide a learning environment much more conducive together with his autism.

Trevor began seventh grade with a customized schooling program. Patty focused on language and arts and I focused on mathematics and science. He also attended a homeschool-assisted faculty which supplied English and math classes and attended a mathematics course at the middle school he would have normally attended. The program plan was designed by Patty and me together with Trevor's school counselor. It ended up being a hybrid of schooling and traditional education which we felt gave Trevor that the best likelihood of success. Trevor's counselor was totally awesome in working with us and putting Trevor's well-being first. The mixed teaching worked very well in seventh grade, but we noticed that Trevor wasn't getting enough peer socialization. In like it decided to initiate the process of mainstreaming back him to the public-school system. Patty continued attention on language and arts and mathematics and science topics were being supplied by Trevor's middle school. I like to joke I was fired as a homeschool teacher and that my wife and son did the shooting. In fact the mainstreaming has been the ideal answer since it allowed him to get needed socialization through spending more time in college whilst also giving him some additional 1:1 focus . In ninth grade we believed Trevor was ready to be fully mainstreamed into the public-school system. While we packed up our homeschool materials, our involvement with Trevor's education and socialization expansion was still strong.

Ninth through 12th grade attracted some high points but also brought a lot of battle. why not check here had trouble telling the difference between children mocking him versus being a buddy. Because he was supporting his peers in his social interaction abilities, he'd say and do things that weren't proper. He'd have a few close friends who were real in their friendship, some of which he's still friends with now. The play club was his first "clique", and while some in the club took advantage of Trevor's autism, many recognized and looked out for him.

Feeling the jump from high school to a large university would be too drastic for him personally , he attended a local junior college for two years while living at home. He'd developed a passion for films and photography, so he decided to major in film studies with a focus in photography. Both of these years were foundational for Trevor's expansion because he continued to progress academically while also letting him work on design and adaptation abilities. In his sophomore year that he decided he wanted to transfer to a four-year university majoring in film and media studies. my sources on where to go was an outstanding example of decision making through empirical data investigation and pros/cons articulation. He also developed a visibility board using a number of decision criteria including offering of major, closeness of family, and church offerings. He narrowed his choice down to two schools, Central Washington University and Arizona State University, each of which meant he would be living away from home. He ultimately decided on Arizona State, comfortable through his investigation this was the best option. It was during that period that Trevor wrote about his experiences growing up with autism at Six-Word Lessons on Growing Up Autistic.

In August 2013 we chose Trevor to the ASU Tempe campus, helped him put up his dorm room, and compelled him to begin his junior year of college. While jobs was somewhat unnerving being a million miles away from him, we had peace in realizing there were a range of household members in the area including Trevor's big sister Briana who had been now a nurse at nearby Scottsdale. His last two years of college have been those of tremendous growth. He needed to figure out a great deal of things on his own, make new friends, and be responsible for his own studies. Fortunately, he plugged into a church band that has been walking distance from ASU. He fit in like a glove and the church team was a high point of the time at ASU. this article got to experience living and dealing with roommates, the majority of which he believed were too immature for him. We got many problem calls when he lost his pocket, had computer problems, or has been having difficulty coping with some situations.

His post-college life has been filled with a great deal of anxiety. Now he had been out of college and it was time to encourage himself. He was employed by us for 17 weeks where we got to help him build decent work habits. We instituted a monthly review process called "dones" where in the beginning of the month he'd lay out what he'd have done by the end of the month, that we'd review at the start of the following month. It was an outstanding procedure in that all three of us were aligned regarding what he needed to do, and he was held accountable for getting things done. His marketing missions have been flourishing, including being interviewed by two local TV news channels.

Today Trevor is 26. He resides on his own at a condo we purchased for him along with two other tenants on the autism spectrum. He pays rent, he manages his own money, he's self sufficient as any 26-year-old. He's still got some challenges he'll continue to get for the rest of his life. He'll always need someone else to help coach him through scenarios. It was lots of hard work on all our components, but Patty and I are excited about his future and are glad that we were in a position to help Trevor.