After several lovely, sunny days, it is raining again. I am tired already. And neither Alan nor @PanKwake are up yet.
Once upon a time that would have been a recipe for disaster. But between Alan’s help and the growth in self-care that I have seen in @PanKwake these past five years, I’ll make it through.
Don’t get me wrong, there are still loads of things that I do for @PanKwake that most fifteen-year-olds do for themselves. Such as…
- Make her cups of water
- …and almost all her food
- Remind her to wash & change her clothes (okay, maybe I’m giving teens too much credit?
But she’s come a long way. These days IF I let her know that I’m having a bad day, she can sometimes get her own snacks (candy or crisps at least). And if I make cups of water and leave them in the fridge, she will help herself.
When we first moved in with Alan, the posh house had an American style fridge-freezer with in door water and ice. She loved to make her own water then. But @HomeCrazzyHome does not have the space in the kitchen for that.
And there are a handful of things that Alan can ‘make’ for her (mostly microwave). So with a bit of planning I can go to bed early and leave the two gamers up until… Goddess only knows when.
But when you have a #neurodivergent child or younger person, self-care is as much or even more so part of their education as reading, writing, and maths. Once upon a time, schools used to take that into consideration. They would include self-care as part of that…
Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full.
Article 29 (goal of education) UN-CRC
But with the introduction of National Curriculums in the US and UK, those skills tuition have fallen to the wayside. Honestly, that is a pity for ‘normal’ children and young people. But even more so for those with special educational needs who are forced to endure lessons in subjects they simply will never get.
Home education gives parents the opportunity to do what schools can’t or won’t…
Prepare them for life.
When she was younger, @PanKwake’s education included things that others take for granted such…
Being able to eat in a restaurant. We found a couple that were both quiet and truly child-friendly. Even then, we always went between the lunch and dinner crowds. That way she did not have too much sensory overload.
Animal care was another huge one. @PanKwake LOVES animals. Sometimes a bit too much. She would want to pet everything. I spent lots of time teaching her the 3-steps to approaching animals. 1) Ask the owner’s permission. 2) Get down on their level especially the small ones. 3) Let them smell you first.
Of course, her ‘education’ has also included all those days spent in the park and parties spent teaching her social skills. As well as the years spent with our Incredible 5-Point Scale learning to identify and name her emotions.
When you finally grasp Article 29 of the UN-CRC, you begin to recognize how woefully poor our school systems are at meeting those goals. Whether that is how to do laundry, use the microwave (one of our educational goals in the coming years), or boil water, aren’t those skills vital too. And there are loads of Ph.D. who would not recognize a genuine emotion if it bit them in the arse (most of them seem to need up working with the #neurodivergent somehow?).
Self-Directed Learning & Neurodiversity 