Things Happen in Bunches

Wow -- I've been posting a lot lately. There are times where I feel like I have to work to come up with things to say so I'm updating this weekly (which is my target) and there are times where there is just so much to say I can't say it fast enough. Right now, we seem to be in one of those times.

I talked yesterday about Rachel being ready for Potty Training. Well, we have another update on that front. I received an email from her teacher this morning -- while they were changing her diaper, she announced "Go Potty" and then pee-ed on the floor before they could get her on the toilet. She's definitely ready. So, on Monday morning, we're going to begin training her. This will give her a month before school ends. And we will review the Drs. Foxx and Azrin's technique over the weekend, so we can continue reinforcing things at home. Her teacher says it typically takes about 2 weeks for the behavior to truly "take", but they like to leave a month to allow for continuing reinforcement. So, ideally, in 2 weeks or so, Rachel will be daytime potty trained and we will wait until Simon is ready.

But there was another event that happened this week. A couple of months ago, I "volunteered" to participate in a project to create a video for caregivers of individuals with autism. I figured this would be an interesting project and I probably can provide a relatively unique perspective because of the "twin" perspective. But when I volunteered, I didn't realize how big of project this really is. The intention is that this will be distributed nationally. And it was being filmed by truly professional film-makers. It was a bit nerve-wrecking -- yesterday, I walked into my basement and there was all this equipment and wires and microphones and all other types of equipment all over the place. It was definitely an experience, and I hope I made a good contribution. I will get to review my part of it before the final version is made, which is appreciated, and I will have to give my approval at that time. And I should get a copy of the finished product as well. I hope I was able to make a positive difference.

I also arranged for the kids to participate in summer camps during this last week. They will all be going through July and into August and hopefully, will enjoy their experiences. Time will tell.

So, hopefully things are going to start settling down. I think I need a break.