Good gravy, I've been gone again. Thank you, BW, for pointing that out. I just forget to write over here sometimes.

Things with Beemer are very good right now. He's been going to CampGonnaWannaGoAgin. Its been better because hes back on a schedule again. His last day of extended school year was the 26th of last month and his sleeping schedule went nuts after that.

He goes to Camp from 9am to 3pm and so far he loves it. I was entirely too bummed about not being able to take him on his first day. Thankfully, my best friend was able to do it for me. My work hours just make it impossible and his Step Father can't be trusted with a flea.

On Monday, he went bowling and to the beach. He said that he "sucked at bowling. He got an 80 and this girl got 112. I'm supposed to be a winner not a weeeeeiner." Hysterical. They also went to the beach and I know he had fun there.

On Tuesday, they went kayaking. He went kayaking for a first time a few weeks ago in the ocean. I thought he did fairly well. I asked him where he kayaked and he said "The Swamp". I'm not exactly sure where we have swamps in Virginia Beach but I'll take him word on it. He said there were snakes and poison ivy! Makes me wanna jump right on in! They also went to the beach again and he forgot to put on sunblock because his cheeks are red!

I'm off today, well I'm still going in, but I'm taking him to camp first. They are going rollerskating/blading. I'm very concerned because he hasn't really done this before and he's not the most coordinated kid in the world. He gets it from his mother :) I'm hoping he'll do well and like it. I'd like for him to have more outdoor activities to participate in and so far he plays, but thats about it. He'll ride his razor scooter. He's not ready for his skateboardyet. Maybe the skates will work!

Besides, if he does need to go to the hospital at least I can take him! No, forget I said that.

There is a lot of family business going on to update about, but I don't have the time this morning so I will come back tomorrow with the Camp Beemer update and fill you in then and I can catch up with you guys!

~Beemer's Mom

Sorry...

I went MIA again. I guess there has been a few major changes in our household and I forget to write on here sometimes. I always write on my journal though, if you're interested, I might link ya.

Beemer's Step Dad and I have decided to separate and on top of that I found his biological father. Can you imagine the changes he is having to deal with? His behavior is still getting worse. Between the teenage hormones and the changes, he is just irritable and smart-alecy a lot. He's very off and on. One minute he's hugging me and the next its all about privacy.

I don't know if any of my readers have dealt with teenage autistic children yet. Beemer does not want me to go in his room. The main reason is probably so I don't see it, so he doesn't have to clean it, but there is more to it. He's started to masterbate, I believe. He's also probably watching things that he's not supposed to. He keeps stating, "Mom...don't you knock!"

I guess maybe I should. I'm just not used to that. I guess he's growing up. Now if we could just work on his mouth. He is still saying very inappropriate things from time to time. I think he's happy about finding his Dad, but he's not showing too much emotion. He has siblings he didn't know about so that was a surprise. They look so much alike too, very scary.

School is over on Thursday, but he will be starting Summer School at the end of the month. They will only go for one month and he'll be off the entire month of August. I went into this thinking that Beemer would be with his teacher, at his school, etc. but I got a letter in the mail stating he would be at a totally different school, with a different teacher, that really concerns me. I need to call Tony's Mom and make sure they are going to be together or I may reconsider this whole thing if I can.

More to come.

~Beemer's Mom

Healing

I'm signing Beemer up for Surfer's Camp in Virginia Beach this summer. Hopefully he will be able to get in, the waiting list can be quite long. Sign-ups just started this morning and I'm getting ready to fax my info right now! They do such a wonderful job. It's only a day long, but its so nice to see the kids out there. If you'd like more information [they might come to your area], you can check them out at:

http://www.surfershealing.org

They can use any support!

~Beemer's Mom

Beemer's behavior is getting out of hand. I understand its probably typical teenage boy behavior, but wowsers, I have no idea what to do. He's so mouthy, he must have the last word, and he's talking back like crazy. He totally disrespects my husband [his stepfather]. He tells him to Shut up and demands things. It's not right. My husband and I are officially separated now, but we still live under the same roof and we haven't told Beemer. I don't plan on it either, until we know we are planning on divorcing for sure. My husband plays a huge role in the disrespect, but Beemer knows better than to talk to any adult that way.

What's worse? He told me Jay "molested" him on Wednesday. That totally broke my husband's heart. It came from nowhere and I was irate. I got very graphic with Beemer and asked him if he touched his penis or stuck his penis in his butt, he was taken aback and said No. I think he had no idea what it meant, he just said it to get Jay in trouble. He didn't realize how much trouble he would get into had he said that to the wrong person.

I just got off the phone with his teacher and she told me that a T.A. told her this morning that Beemer said his female teacher molested him on Wednesday as well. She sat him down and talked to him this morning and he told her that he thought she hated him [that's another one of his sayings when he doesn't get his way] and that he didn't know what it meant when he said it. He claims to have heard it on South Park. South Park is now banned from the house. I couldn't believe it. This poor woman could get fired or have charges brought up against her. Thankfully its all worked out and no one will get in trouble.

Does anyone have experience with this?

~Beemer's Mom

Wow. Beemer's latest IEP was 2 1/2 hours long. It was incredible though. These folks at SECEP really know what they are doing. They tested his reading levels with different variations and it basically came out that he is at a lower 2nd grade level, which is 4 levels behind. He has a lot of work ahead of him. His hardest issue is comprehension. He reads so fast and he tends to omit work change words. Prepositions and suffixs are a huge issue has well. We just have to keep working on it.

They made a lot of goals for him which are very encouraging. I have to go home and read all the way through it but considering everything this kid has been through, he is remarkable. We are planning on him being in the ESY program so he continues his schedule. He'll only go 3 hours a day for a month during the summer but he'll still have lots of fun both in school and out of school.

My brother has moved in with us which was a big change and he has regressed a little but its not too bad. Just turning 13 has really messed his behaviors up. I guess I just need to suck it up and realize I'm dealing with a teenager now. He is going to talk back. He is going to be wondering about sex. He is curious about EVERYTHING. Just because he is Autistic doesn't mean he won't experience all the changes "normies" go through.

His progress report came back and he has 1 A, 2 B's, and 3 C's. For changing schools, I think that is great. I'm very proud of him.

Lots of work, folks. I'm gonna get through this, we all will.

Thanks for your support,

~Beemer's Mom.