A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

We started the week Monday morning by attending the Memorial Day tribute and pancake breakfast put on by our church congregation.  There was a beautiful barbershop quartet performance of The Star Spangled Banner , and then one of the Vietnam veterans spoke about his experiences in war and in standing up for gospel truths.  The breakfast part was horrendous--too many people in one space (I fed my kids ahead of time, so the breakfast was really a snack for them)--but once that was over with, my kids had a grand time playing with their friends, and I had a lovely visit with friends of my own. Sir Walter Scott and Super Star were at work. Pixie and Belle went to a swim party with friends. And on Tuesday morning most of the kids headed out to play while I administered the NWEA MAP Growth reading test to Ladybug and Brother. Standardized testing is not required of homeschoolers in our state, and I've never felt the need to do it before, but over and over again came the tho...

Beowulf's Developmental and Behavioral testing wrapped up a couple of weeks ago, and on Monday Sir Walter Scott and I braved the ice/snow/slush to listen to the psychiatrist tell us her conclusions. It was not what I thought. At all. I believed that she was going to do a huge battery of tests and give me an overall assessment of all kinds of aspects of Beowulf's development. Nope. She tested his IQ and screened him for Autism. That's it. He does not have Autism. Though he does have lots of Autistic behaviors (sensory sensitivities, repetitive body movements, immature social skills, and some speech difficulties/quirks). I was quite intrigued to find out that based on the description she gave us of the tests she gave him, the testing for Autism is entirely social.  She tested him for being able to carry on a conversation, share, play imaginative games, how he used tone of his voice, and his ability to respond to body language. Autism is diagnosed when a ch...