Autism, cooking and inference
Like most parents of a child with a disability, I’m on way too many email lists. Sometimes I get the itch to get off a bunch of them. After all, my child isn’t a child, he’s a grown man. The kinds of things we worry about, the world is just beginning to worry about. Many times I’m convinced the answer to our problem isn’t going to be in that mountain. Just like when he was little, when he was 1 in 15,000, and not 1 in 88, my job is to ready the pilgrimage and go find Mohammed.
But then something flies across cyberspace and there it is. A solution.
This time the reward for sifting through the mountain of email was finding out about Penny Gill, and how she teaches adults with autism how to cook.
When I was younger, combing through some of the recipes my mother used, I would sometimes get frustrated with the instructions. A lot was inferred, little was written.
Inference is a difficult skill to master for people with autism.
Julia Child came along and helped with instructions for how to cook, but she and all those television chefs expect us to generalize what they do. Generalizing is also a difficult skill for people with autism to master.
Can you imagine writing the recipe that really has ALL the steps? Well, Penny Gill and her team have been doing just that. Check out the directions how to make Bumbleberry Squares.
They have a cooking class coming up in the middle of the day, May 7 at Central Market in Dallas (scroll down to find the registration instructions). That’s a rotten time for us in the Wolfe family.
But we ordered the cookbook, Coach in the Kitchen.
Stay tuned.
Random thoughts on the Cowtown Easter 5K
Getting up early on Saturday and lining up with hundreds of people to run around, raising money for charity, is a nice way to connect with humanity. But, standing at the start line for 45 minutes waiting for a freight train downstream to clear out is its own kind of endurance test. A 5K feels like barely getting started after years of training for half-marathons. A man in a bunny suit with whiskers, pink ears and a pink pom-pom tail while also wearing a leather vest and carrying a six-shooter, even in the Fort Worth Stockyards, is just creepy. From a distance, an Iowan seeing your shirt and saying “Hey! A Hawkeye!” kind of sounds like “Hey! A Hot Guy!” Michael came in under 22 minutes, I finished under 25. Once you have kids, your whole life, you’re always chasing them.
Happy Easter, y’all!
Smart as a 5th grader #8
5-21-99
My plans about summer are having free time and playing games. I like playing games better than free time. On the last day of school I don’t get homework because on the day before the last day of school, I take my school supplies home! Wouldn’t that be something!
5-26-99
The best thing in 5th grade is that I work faster and get it done on time. Also, I was on the AB honor roll all year and I participated at Camp Summit. I also got a Circle of Friends award and I had a Circle of Friends party yesterday.
(Scroll down to the bottom of this page to learn more about Circle of Friends.)
Overheard in the Wolfe House #227
Peggy (watching TV): Oh. There’s Hawaii. Still wanna live there.
Sam (in a stage whisper): There she goes again.
Smart as a 5th grader #7
4-16-99
I like to go to the Grand Canyon. It’s in Arizona and it’s the best vacation ever! It’s pretty far down and you never get on top of it. It’s pretty fun to go there.
Paige, Mark, Sam and Michael get on top of the Grand Canyon
4-23-99
When you have a sub, you have to be extra good. Otherwise I would lose discipline. When all my discipline power is gone, I will go to sleep, or when my pin goes to the teacher. Each time I misbehave, I move my pin from green to yellow to red to a dark, paleless blue. If your pin is on blue, you lose your Friday recess and you’re about to receive a detention. When your pin goes to the teacher, you’ll receive a detention.
4-28-99
Our May activities will be Camp Summit. Camp Summit is in, I guess, Flower Mound. Camp Summit is through Bartonville or Double Oak. Nobody knows Bartonville, but everybody knows Flower Mound.
Overheard in the Wolfe House #226
Sam (eating the last “lite” lemon bar): Try to do better next time, ok, Mom?
Peggy: I will.
Smart as a 5th grader #6
3-5-99
At the middle school gym, I made 5 shots. They only give you 50 tries. But 5 shots is OK. Jamie made 25 shots, that is good. It’s pretty fun at the basketball hoop shoot.
3-22-99
This spring break I went to Colorado and there was snow. I went to my grandma’s house. I stood there from Monday to Saturday. It takes about a day to get there from my house.
3-26-99
This weekend, coming up, I will probably go places tomorrow. On Sunday, I’ll rest. I might go a lot of places, but I don’t know, but both the days, I will watch TV. I can’t go a lot of places on Sunday because Sunday is a day of rest.
3-29-99
Jake is 11 years old. I’m invited to his party. I don’t know where it will be, but it’ll be a good place to have a party. I’m gonna have fun!
4-1-99
Yesterday, I went on a field trip. I went to UNT. I described animals and did a dig. I also did fun stuff and went to the sky theater.
4-8-99
My favorite relative is Don Heinkel. I call him Grandpa because he’s my grandpa. I love him a lot. That’s why he’s my favorite relative.
Smart as a 5th grader #5
1-15-99
At Recess, I played Duck, Duck, Goose. It’s when people sit in a circle and one person walks around and when (s)he says goose, then the goose tries to get the duck, but if (s)he gets tagged, (s)he’s in the mushpot.
1-19-99
This 3-day weekend I had lots of fun. On Saturday I went places, but not very many. I knew I went to my mom’s work, but I went to DATCU, and other places, too. At DATCU, it had too many people at the drive-thru. On Sunday, I rested. Yesterday, I went to Eureka Park and went shopping.
1-25-99
This weekend, I had a great time. My Grandpa rested. He rested because he had a disease. It probably was a cold. On Saturday, my Grandma worked all day in my upstairs. And on Sunday, she rested.
2-19-99
I want my report card at a one hundred. One hundred is perfect and it’s an A+. You get an A at usual. Sometimes you can get an A-.
Smart as a 5th grader #4
11-13-98
I saw Mrs. Newland’s puppy today! She’s eight weeks old. She has a short tail. She’s brown and white. She’s little. She has fur. She has sharp teeth! The puppy is soft. She’s not big, and she’s cute.
11-18-98
I am doing a president report on James Monroe. Right now he’s dead. He once died on a July 4. He’s famous. But he died a long time ago, a long time before I was born.
11-19-98
I am thankful for my own room. I am also thankful for my dogs. And I am thankful for Jon Greene, all the rest of my friends, and the 5th grade teachers.
12-2-98
On my vacation, I took my van trip to San Francisco and then I flew two airplanes. One airplane was from San Francisco to Maui. The other one was from Maui to Hawaii. In Hawaii, I rented a car and stayed in someone’s house named Nita. In Hawaii, I also swam in the Pacific Ocean. I also went to a wedding and I was in it. My Grandma, Grandpa, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins were there.
12-4-98
I am 11 years old! Today’s my birthday! I have 11-year-old behavior. I have 11-year-old reading. And I do 11-year-old work!
Overheard in the Wolfe House #225
Peggy (watching Sam slice the pizza he made): Wow, Sam. That looks terrific. You are an artist.
Sam: Really? I think I’m more of a producer.