Posts made by Too Old For This

@wretched If I can figure out time travel? Sure. XD

@faraday I can tell you the difference. My oldest son went through a very low-budget, no-care district. They treated kids like criminals, it was ridiculous. And God help you if you have special needs in that district. My son spent 3 of his 4 high school years in one of those shitty little 'built overnight' trailers that's only meant to be used for like... temporary emergency needs. They made it a full time structure, then stuck all the special needs kids into them (there were three total). He was tormented by the 'normal' kids... and treated like he just wasn't 'applying himself enough' by the faculty. I literally had one of his teachers roll her eyes at me when I mentioned that he has multiple disorders, as listed in his IEP, and that she did not seem to be providing any of the accommodations he required. (Thankfully, she was let go by the school system within a month. Apparently she was of the belief that all of these learning disabilities were just laziness on the part of the students and parents, and that she was going to prove it by showing how they could get through just fine without any help. It went over about as well as you could expect.) My son barely scraped through high school and largely just because the school was uninterested in holding him back so they kept pushing him forward regardless of his grades. He was given no options, no control, and no voice. He now struggles to find work because he couldn't get into college, and he hit the job market the year before COVID hit. So he has very little work history to recommend him.

My youngest is currently having his senior year schedule tailored to his individual needs, he has accommodations in all his classrooms, his teachers are communicative in their needs. The school is communicative in any issues that arise. He's got C's and B's (and one D, he's struggling with Earth Science). He is not on the normal diploma track because he has decided he doesn't want to go into college from high school. He wants to get a job for awhile and look at his options and take some time to figure out what he REALLY wants to do. So the school is tailoring his educational plan to get him a 'completion diploma' rather than a normal diploma. In every way that counts, it will act as a high school diploma. But if he tries to register for college it will tell them that he is missing core curriculum classes (geometry and chemistry) that he will have to make up before he can enroll. This was his decision. They asked him what he wanted. His IEP meeting is next week, he will be attending, and he will be helping to select the classes that will be best for him for the remainder of the school year. He is much happier, much less stressed, and has a far more positive outlook on his future.

@ganymede Yes but the school system isn't actually set up to prepare children for life after school. It's still set up the way it was originally created, when the 'real world' they were being prepared for was working at a factory or sweatshop. So the things that are prized above education are teaching children to sit quietly, raise their hands when they need something, and not argue with authority figures. As education became 'more important' to the US, standardized testing got thrown in there with the 'be seen, not heard' trifecta, which has helped nobody ever be prepared for the real world. School does not prepare you for the real world (at least not public school), and high school doesn't even prepare you for college. It prepares you to be a cog in a wheel in a giant industrial machine.

Quick note: For sciences in high school... in order of ease of learning/teaching? Physics is generally the easiest. Next is Chemistry. Then Biology being the more difficult. The reason they teach it in the opposite direction? Because its alphabetical. At no point has the rules, regulations, and laws governing the educational system ACTUALLY been about preparing children for adult life.

Edit
Extra Fun Fact: My youngest is 18 years old. I blew his mind last week by telling him that if he wants pork chops for breakfast and cereal for dinner, that's totally his prerogative.

@derp I was handed a letter already signed by HR stating that I have accepted that I was released from employment for 'failing my probationary period'. When I asked for clarification, I was told that 'they were unable to say anything more'.

I wasn't sure where to post this, I don't really have a social media presence to speak of, my experiences with Facebook largely turned me off the various platforms.

I was hired on to a really great company ten days ago. Three days into the training period, I was pulled aside and told that I was being let go. No explanation was given, my things were collected and brought to me, and that was that. The thing is, I had quit my previous position banking on this new job to help pull myself and my son from the 'just barely scraping by' situation we'd been in. I've spent the last week calling in every favor, family member, and loan company that I can think of... and I'm still going to be short for this month's bills. Many of my creditors are willing to work with me, but I'm not eligible for a full deferment for some of them. So I'm asking for help. I started a GoFundMe. I'm doing what I can to spread the word, but any help that people here can offer in getting it around would be super appreciated. Thanks guys.

GoFundMe

@arkandel I will be satisfied when they are available at Walmart.

@arkandel We were also promised hoverboards! And those WERE promised to one and all! Even small children in a relatively small town of the 'future' had them!

@boneghazi

My son has exactly the same symptoms, we've been dealing with it for just over a decade now. These are the biggest tips I can think of to help with ADHD/Autism/any mental or emotional disorder.

1. Contact you school's guidance office (if they have one), or the main office (if they do not have a guidance office). Inform them of your child's diagnosis and that you would like to schedule a meeting with every and anyone that might need to be present. This could include the school psychiatrist, special ed teacher*, your son's current teacher, guidance counselor, member of school administration, and possibly any advocacy representative that your school may have.

2. Advocate, Advocate, Advocate. The school will do nothing if you do not insist on it. Not always because they don't want to, but they may be overwhelmed. Don't let your kid be the one that slips through the cracks. If there are things you know, as his parent, that he will need to be successful in school? Insist on it.

3. Keep in contact. Obviously with your son, but also with his teacher and anyone else that spends a significant amount of time with him at school. Make sure that the accommodations he is getting are actually working. Don't be afraid to ask for things to change, especially as you're first starting out. There's going to be a lot of trial and error to figure out the exact methods and means that work for your child. The best way to determine what works and what doesn't? His teacher. Get their email address, ask for weekly updates. Ask to be called if anything significant happens so it can be addressed immediately.

4. If there is a school psychologist/psychiatrist/counselor, set up appointments for him to talk to them. Sometimes it's hard for a child to properly articulate what they're feeling to their teacher or parent. This person can be a godsend in helping your son be heard and understood. More, if he's having a rough day, the counselor's office can be a quiet, safe space for him to escape to. Give him some time to center and breathe, then make sure he has what he needs to go back out and finish the day.

• Don't be afraid of the special ed. teacher. The stigma of special ed is dumb and needs to go away. So many students would benefit from an IEP, accommodations, additional assistance, smaller classrooms, extra teachers in the room, etc. The special ed department is where most of those things will come from. Not because your child is 'slow' but because this is precisely what they were trained to do.

Oh, as a personal note, if he is sensitive to noise, think about getting him some noise-cancelling earplugs he can use at school. Not all the time, obvs, but when its time to do math or whatever, he can put them in to help block out the ambient noises that so easily distract and pull attention.

HYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYPE!

Like many people, I started playing ACNH at the start of the pandemic, when we were all stuck at home anyways. I dropped off after it seemed like I was down to grinding out for items and such. So this is looking awesome.

@macha I live for Domino's thin crust as someone who is trying to count carbs. So I definitely understand.

Domino's has really been making a comeback the past 5-10 years. They nearly went under in the late 90's/early 00's because Papa John's was the new hotness and EVERYONE wanted the new hotness. But they stepped up their game and pulled it out. And thank God for it. They've treated their employees better than pretty much any chain I can think of.

@mietze I would do pickup, but it would mean having to deal with the part I hate most about going for groceries.... the traffic. I don't care about the shopping trip itself, I actually enjoy wandering the store. But quite frankly... traffic, and how people behave on the road, has gotten so, SO much worse since COVID restrictions. Its like people forgot how to drive. And I just have no patience for that shit anymore.

@silverfox I want him MORE now!!! He sounds amazing!

...and I may have a weakness for ginger kitties.

Speaking as someone who was just let go from a company two days after being hired in, the day after my employer found out I have CFS, they will find ANY excuse they can for letting you go. In this case, I live in an 'at will' state, so they aren't required to give ANY reason for letting me go. And unless I can prove that there was some sort of discrimination, I have no recourse.

Labor laws protect the corporations, not the workers.

@silverfox I want Sir Charles, too!

Living room furniture is being delivered this weekend! I ordered the original set back in July. Delivery kept getting pushed back because apparently the set I ordered is coming from overseas and ports keeping opening/closing thanks to COVID still being a dick. So I went back through their site, called the sales rep that helped me in the store... he helped me to cancel my current order and place a new order for a set that is in stock. It will be slightly less cool than the original set I'd ordered, but it will be comfy and fit better with my asthetic and its cheaper too!

I get to take part in a clinical trial to test a new drug for relief from myalgic encephalomyelitis (chronic fatigue syndrome). I hate that name, it makes it sound like a 'made up' disease. But I am thrilled at the potential for some relief!

@macha If you're going the sliced with salt route, might I suggest also slicing up a small cuke to go with it? The acids from the tomatoes do AMAZING things to cuke with salt.

@kk I am envious of your garden! I live in an apartment, so cannot has. But someday!

@mietze The explanation I put up there is an oversimplification of loss of control. The people that are the ones that can't understand equality? They're the ones in control. And they can't fathom anything being truly equal. All they can grok is that they might lose the control over... everything. Laws, societal norms, the economy, family... everything.