Dorothy and I spoke on our shared morning/ mid-day walk, me in Hawaii and her in New Jersey. We talked a lot about old musicals, particularly by Sondheim. I think I love everything he's done.
I had my first appointment with H., M's brother, this morning. After I agreed to work with him, his mother told me he was autistic. This assessment concluded he has a low I.Q. I did work with an autistic student who had a low I.Q. From the little the parents told me, H. is much more competent. I suspect he tested low because he was uncooperative.
The autistic often don't behave appropriately in social situations. They are easily overwhelmed and just walk away. I made it clear to the mother that she could not correct his behavior unless I asked her to.
The mother had said his problem was with making inferences. She wanted me to provide the material. One of my third-grade teachers from the local school provided me with two selections ready to go.
H. immediately asked if he could read his book. Absolutely. I saw several opportunities to ask him questions that required him to make an inference. He did just fine. His parents are concerned that he will not do well in third grade, but he has more serious problems. His speech. His intonation is flat, and I heard several grammatic incidents: a sentence construction that no English speaker would use. They also said he behaves inappropriately in social situations. The school said something about executive function, which refers to self-control. I can't imagine that he is the worst kid they have to deal with. Many students in the third-grade classes I worked with wouldn't or couldn't stay on task or pay attention to what the teacher said. No one talked about taking them out of the mainstream classes and putting them in a self-contained classroom for special ed. kids. His father said he was pleased with how I interacted with his son; they had to think about how they wanted to engage me. That's good.
I put some more vegetable oil on the glass in the shower in the areas where there was still some soap residue. This time I just applied it with a cloth rather than spraying it on. I had more control. I had applied some oil to the bottom panel in the louvered window. The oil did nothing. I soaked a cloth in vinegar and draped it over the glass panel. That worked. I guess you can say oil for the soap scum and vinegar to remove the water's mineral residue.
I also worked on editing my article. Up to page six, I made only minor changes. Then I hit a snag. The last time I read it over, I realized I had left out the basic description of the procedure. I am trying to get all the information I included in the chapters I had already completed in the book. I am trying to compress 200 pages to 11. Nice trick if you can go, and if you can, tell me how.
Dorothy agreed to read the article with me and make suggestions. I have sent her copies several times, as I have any number of people. Because of the lack of vigorous feedback on the part of friends and family, I looked for a professional editor. I think all my 'victims' are much relieved. I tried to use them because I couldn't imagine an editor interested in working on the subject. I knew one editor in Ohio, and she only worked on fiction. Dorothy and I are now working together on the document on Zoom. Dorothy reads it and makes suggestions. I've read it out loud repeatedly. Hearing her read let me know how the language feels on her tongue. Also, working in unison makes the project more appealing to both of us. I suspect being relieved of the ultimate responsibility also helps. I am so glad I made this decision.
While I was working with Dorothy, Damon called. I told Dorothy that I had to take it. Damon's time is limited. He calls me when he's on a walk, in the bathtub, or in the hot tub. He budgets his telephone time, so he's not stealing time from his family.
I posted one of my updates, called Darby to tell her I was heading out for my walk. I call every night before I head out. She has become my-before dinner walking companion. She joins me when she can. She wasn't out front as I passed her house. I did the longer version of the walk, heading up Hiolani. As I came back down, someone was walking toward me with a flashlight. It was Darby coming to join me.
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