We are so spoiled in with community college in California. Clear articulation agreements with UC and CSU *and* $46/unit! (I remember when it was $13!)

Fried Plantain. Easy and delicious.

My Autistic eight year old loves history. She devours Horrible Histories and Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales. Aimed at kids, with lots of nitty-gritty details and no hesitation to make fart jokes. She’s a strong reader, but I would totally read these aloud to a kid if that would make them more accessible. The Nathan Hale books are graphic novels and I think the visual aspect makes them even more compelling for her. (I’m Autistic and I love them too.) She’s getting way more content then a more “serious” history curriculum, and she is having a lot more fun.

I had to give up so many different foods with LongCovid, so sugar was almost an afterthought. Your tastebuds do change. Apples and grapes are like candy now. The only sugar foods currently in the house are things that I can’t eat for other reasons, so self control isn’t much of an issue. Last week at my mom’s house I had sugar for the first time in over a year (candied ginger) and despite never having sugar cravings I totally binged. Won’t be bringing that home!

I have a 2020 iPhone SE. I have teeny tiny hands and at the time it was the only small iPhone option. It works great, I have no complaints. The third generation SE is going to support 5G.

My highly verbal kid knew all her letter sounds at 2.5. I assumed she would be an early reader. I was wrong. She resisted and resisted her Bob Books at 4 and 5. At 6 she went from Bob Books in September to Harry Potter by Christmas. When they are ready, they are ready.

What languages are you looking for? The ULAT teaches French and Spanish and its founder is a conservative Christian. I haven’t seen any objectionable content. It’s also just better than Duolingo for actually teaching too.

This looks lovely. Thank you!

Ooh! I’ve wanted something like this! Thank you!

You can do a lot of Pilates exercises without a reformer. There is a whole sequence you just do on the mat. You could get a video and go for it.

Just wanted to add that I had several Autistic teachers in high school. (Math, English, PE). None of use knew it at the time, but Autistic teachers are most definitely a thing.

My goal this year is just feeding the reading monster. DD8 is burning through books, and school only lets her visit the library once a week (I went daily at her age…) She loves Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales. Horrible Histories are less of a hit. But I’m going to have to get every middle grade history book I possibly can to put off the more sensitive content of the high school books. (Maus, Persepolis, etc.) Which she would totally love, but she’s eight. We are reading aloud Little Women. We may read all the sequels just to tread water. Want to keep her in (challenging, engaging) kid content as long as I can! The struggle is real.

This is a helpful link for brainstorming careers: https://lexingtonservices.com/career-paths-for-people-with-autism/

As an autistic adult, I’m 1000% behind Team Get A Degree. I would explain to him that a degree is a ticket he can use to open a lot of doors, and right now he is just working to get that ticket. There are so many career-focused certifications you can do *after* your degree. Tell him it’s okay to focus on your career *after* your degree and that lots and lots of successful people do. He hasn’t failed. It’s not too late. When I was his age I desperately wanted a clear, sequential path to follow, and college majors don’t exactly work that way. Don’t pause everything for him to find his path. Keep him on a clear path and work on finding the next path. (It would have helped me to know when I was struggling to pick a major that paralegal certifications and programming certifications and HR certifications even *existed*. Not so I would pick one, but just to know that I had future options *not* contingent on my eventual major.) And yes people take entry level positions, and work their way up without certifications, but the idea of formal certifications would have deeply appealed to my Autistic brain.

There are different antibody tests. The nucleocapsid test detects antibodies that are *not* generated by the current vaccines. https://www.labcorp.com/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/providers/antibody-test Note of caution: Not everyone who had Covid produces or retains these antibodies. LongCovid patients in particular don’t always produce these antibodies.

I hate adaptive testing with a passion. But I’m also a very fast test taker and I appreciate the extra time to review my work. Alas, adaptive testing is clearly taking over.

I have *one* institutional client. I’m positive I’m not your lawyer.

I wonder if it will be adaptive. Skipping questions and coming back them was a big part of my test strategy.

That’s a whole other problem…. Mandatory disclaimer: I am a lawyer, but I’m never ever your lawyer, and I’m never actually giving legal advice. Sigh.

Picture books that are favorites at our house and amazing for all ages: Ruby’s Wish by Shirin Yim Bridges and The Moon Lady by Amy Tan.

Sometimes I regret putting my job in my username because it might seem overly careerist or something, which was so not my intention, but Lawyer&Mom is truly my whole identity. Put it on my tombstone. It’s me.

That’s the thing about narcissism and abuse. It *is* a response to trauma. The abuser doesn’t have to be remotely evil. They can feel tremendous pressure, stemming from their trauma, to save the whole town. (The eldest daughter covert narcissist martyr is a totally a thing.) But the resulting demands for exceptionalism and perfectionism can suffocate their kids. I thought the depiction of Abuela was super realistic, right up to the magical epiphany. My heart aches for the Abeulas of the world, and I wish a musical number and a magic wand could save them.

I wasn’t expecting narcissistic abuse in my Disney movie, but once it was there I was disappointed to have a happily ever after that didn’t involve the heroine moving away and breaking free. That said, I really really loved her hair. I could watch that part all day.

I liked it right until the end. Traumatized matriarchs don’t suddenly change. They don’t even see the need. These stories don’t get happy song and dance endings. Tap dancing over that reality was pretty bleak for me.

I have no idea what my parameters are anymore. I mean I know what we do, which is mask for in-person school, but I no longer have any idea when we would add anything. It was going to be post vaccination, and now I’m adrift.