At one time, the hubby and I had hopes that Dominic would go
to college. My husband told other people, "I think
Dominic will go to college!" As the years have gone by and we have
watched him get further and further behind academically, both my husband
and I have come to the conclusion that our dream of him going to
college will probably not happen. We had a meeting with his teacher early last week about which "path" we
thought our son will be heading down this fall when he goes to the
local high school. If this was a meeting about a "typically"
developing teen, we would have been discussing the classes he would be
taking in ninth grade and college plans. Instead, we discussed him
earning a "Certificate of Completion," and continuing to learn basic
self-care and life skills. I think in that moment, I realized the dream I
had been keeping in my head for all these years was gone. My entire focus, not just parts of it, instead should be on helping him to find those
skills he is the best at. Both my husband, Dominic's
teacher and I are in agreement that we would love for Dominic to
have a job. Legally, in Michigan, he can be in
the school system until he is 26, so he is halfway done. Last week, I told three of
my close friends about the meeting with Dominic's teacher. I have to
admit, the first friend I told, I got kind of choked up and could feel
myself on the verge of tears. It's one thing to think it, but to
verbalize it has been difficult. One thing I've discovered though, the
more people I tell, the easier it gets. When Dominic was first diagnosed at 2 1/2 with Autism, I spent two
weeks coming to terms with it. I think it is important to go
through that process before you can move towards full acceptance.
Finally letting go of my dream that Dominic will not be going to college
took about a week. Now, it's time to move on!!
We are heading towards 600 orders for Dominic's business. Since our long-term goal for Baked Goods By Dominic is having a "brick-and-mortar" and hire those with disabilities, it is essential and imperative that I continue to teach him all parts of the business. Since I prompted Dominic for so many years for speech, he has become "prompt dependent." What that essentially means is that he will look at me for a prompt, like, "what do you do next?" I do that one a lot. Dominic has been going to a private speech therapist for over ten years and she reminds me often that Dominic usually will know the answer, if I am patient and wait for him. That has been a very hard habit to break! Dominic has an incredible memory, so I put it to the test this morning. I didn't write out the steps, I wanted to see how much he could do completely on his own. We have a customer picking up his order today, but the only thing that had been done is putting the cookies into t...
Don't discount college yet. What is HIS dream? If he finds that he wants to go, you and his army of supporters will find a way for that dream of his to become reality. On the other hand, it is a wonderful practice to let go of our own hopes and dreams for our children, whatever they might be, and whatever skills or deficits our kids might have, and focus on how to help them achieve their dreams. It might be a wonderful surprise.
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