Emma (and I) will be presenting at the TASH Conference in Washington DC December 3-5. We haven’t been given the exact date for our presentation yet, but once I know I will inform all of you. I will be co-presenting with Emma, but the title, Rethinking Your Beliefs About Autism, and topic are Emma’s idea and I will be following her lead (as always.)
On the “no more school” front, we are busy. So busy I am having difficulty finding time to write anything for this blog. I keep thinking once we get into the swing of things that will change. I keep thinking if I just plan better, each day will move along easily and we will (miraculously) get the list of all the things we will do and cover, that I so painstakingly made upon getting up in the morning, done. I even bought a Daily Planner, one of those things everyone used to use before we had smart phones, so that I could record all the subjects we are covering and the length of time spent on each… Before you fall off your chairs laughing, I DIDN’T give in to my impulse to use a color coding system, so there’s at least that. (Not that using a color coding system isn’t a great idea and if you tell me in the comments that’s EXACTLY what you do and how fabulous it works for you I promise to be impressed and probably quite envious as well.)
Here’s the thing about all of this. So much of the problem I’m having is less with our daily adventures and more with the ideas I have about what we SHOULD or SHOULD NOT be doing. It’s reminding me of the presentation Emma and I gave earlier this summer here in New York City. I wanted to write everything I was going to say out onto little index cards, which I then planned to read out loud, pausing now and then for Emma to type whatever she wanted to add. Emma, though, had very different thoughts about how we should do our presentation. And in the end, as it was Emma’s presentation, we did as she wanted. We winged it. (What the hell is the past tense of “to wing it?”) Winging it is pretty much what we are doing now, only instead of doing this for one presentation, we are doing this every single day and I know, I really, really know there’s got to be freedom in that once I stop hyperventilating.
Meanwhile, just as she did during our presentation this past July, Emma is having a great time amidst learning about the cosmos, Hubble’s Law, light years, our ancestors, one of whom was a Colonel in the garrison of the King of France in the battle of Seneffe, where he died, against William III of Orange (who knew?) learning German, discussing current events, creative writing, AND planning a dinner party Emma intends to have, along with making up the guest list and meal I am to prepare.
There are several more exciting things in the works writing-wise, but more about all of that another time.
It’s time for bed, though Emma may well stay up far longer than me. She has a number of things she wants to do before going to sleep…
The Duke of Enghien saving his father, the Grand Condé at the battle of Seneffe: painting from 1786 by Bénigne Gagneraux
Emma's Hope Book 