The Quirky Kid Dossier
Part of the storyline in my life movie is raising a kid who isn’t (I hope you forgive me for using the ‘N’ word) normal. This means my son has more than the usual quirks, including bionic hearing and tactile superpowers. His social and emotional development certainly don’t follow the APA-approved guidelines, thus flagging him for suspicion of a whole host of fashionable disorders.
I’ve never been one to follow fashion.
Below is a list of links, all with your convenience in mind, of my path as a mother raising an out-of-the-box kid in a diagnosis-obsessed society.
Please bear with me as I continue to add links as time allows. One thing quirky kids are not is low-maintenance. You wouldn’t believe the number of phone calls from school I have to field. Or maybe you do know, and if that’s the case, you’re in the right place.
Also, I find it difficult to go through these old posts and revisit these dark shadows in my journey as a mother. I just went through only two months of archives and I’m emotionally tapped.
What I’m trying to say is this page may take a while to complete.
My favorite and most popular posts
Abnormal is the New Normal
The Way-Shower and the Light-Bearer
The Creative Mind Phenomenon
Dark days and stormy nights
Am I a Good Mother?
Mom of the Odd Boy Out
It’s Still Shades of Gray
How Many Licks Does It Take, Mr. Owl?
Life as a Hermit Crab and Lots of Smoke
Sparkles of light and rays of hope
A Story of Limpets, Crabs, and the Ties that Bind
I Love You Anyway
Resources
websites
SENGifted.org (great listing under articles and resources)
BorntoExplore.org (great resource for food/diet implications)
books
A Parent’s Guide to Gifted Children by Dr. James T. Webb.
When the Labels Don’t fit by Barbara Prost (see my review)
The Edison Trait by Lucy Jo Palladino
The Highly Sensitive Child by Elaine Aron
The Gift of ADHD by Lara Honos-Webb
Cradles of Eminence by Victor Goertzel
(P.S. My writings are copyrighted by Darth Vadar himself. Try to steal it and you will feel the Dark Side of my wrath.)
Entries (RSS)
Just wrote you an email telling you how much I love your blog. But then I read this. And now I love *you* too.
I have a quirky creative kid too. I completely get it. Including the phone calls from school.
Hooray (so many times it’s way beyond hooray) for you for resisting labels, for believing in the wonder and brilliance of your son. I so get that. And I so agree. Thank you so much for putting it out there in the blogosphere.
Heather, comments are closed for the latest entry on Payton. He sounds so much much much like my middle child. After hours of assessment and observation, the closest we could find to what bugs our child is change, unpredictability, loud environments: parades, loud teachers, loud birthday parties. He fell into a category called “sensory integration disorder.” There is so much great stuff out there to read. My son is very gifted, several grades above his chronological age. He needs so much alone time, and he can’t wait for school to end so he can go up to his room and wind down. I did homeschool him last year, but he seemed so lonely to me. I don’t know. ANyway,see what you think about the sensory integration books.
You are an awesome mom, and when I think of you , I think of the comment I once read: “Accept your child for who he is, and watch him blossom.” That’s what you do. I remember telling you last year that you make me love my child more. I don’t like the term “disorder”, either. When I speak with my son, I say “environmentally sensitive.” He doesn’t like loud teachers, loud parties, loud kids. He is who he is. Not inthe middle, and people freak out about that. We had to switch schools last year, mid yera, b/c so many parents (with no qualifying background at all) felt this need to tell me my child was autistic. Right. And teachers with only a 4 yr degree in elementary ed saying the same thing. Sorry, not going for it. My son knows who he is, and he knows I’m his number one fan. Keep doing what you’re doing, which is being Payton’s fan club. That is the best. That’s what I never want you to doubt, that you know Payton better than anyone, and you’re not in denial, you’re “in the know.” Love you, love your writing.
[...] not a doctor nor do I play one on the Internet. However, I am a mom raising an eccentric kid, which means I not only have real-life experience with the autism/sensory question but I’m also [...]
When ur ready to talk Asperger’s dear, you know how to reach me. Meanwhile, I do believe you are doing a fine job raising your non-normal child.
I wanted to link you to a russian language site that I learned from.
http://listen2russian.com/menu/index.html#lessons
scroll half way down and hit free lessons. In the subjects you can hit the play button and hear every word or letter sound. I don’t know if his audio can take “lena”’s voice because she drives me crazy, but now I can hold a brief conversion and be understood
the next edition of the DSM will drop Aspie lable and lump it all in with Autistic. So I’m going to look at your book recommendation When Labels Don’t Fit. YOU are an incredible mom to an incredible son and family. Thank you!