Word: nating
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...During Nate's first week at Higashi, I got a call from his teacher asking me to send a pair of sneakers with laces. Why does he need laces when there's Velcro?, I wondered. "Because learning to tie shoes is a life skill," his teacher told me. It was an "aha!" moment for me--the first of many. Higashi is committed to preparing students for lifelong inclusion in the community, so it sends the kids home, with detailed vacation goals, for eight weeks of the year. That way, they can generalize the lessons they learn in school...
...that exercise also means the kids are exhausted at the end of the day and tend to sleep through the night. Nate was always fine after he fell asleep, but oh, those endless routines leading up to bedtime! For eight years, he insisted on sleeping in the same red T shirt with a yellow taxi on it, his large toy keyboard piano laid across his chest, his stuffed animal placed on a chair facing him and the radio playing a 24-hour news station...
Believing that many autistic kids can be reached by tapping into their creative abilities, the teachers have nourished Nate's love of sports and music. And he has never seemed happier. I can see his rigidity loosening every time he comes home or I visit him at school. Even Joey has noticed the changes. Nate has always confused the pronouns I and you. One day during Nate's most recent vacation, Joey said to me excitedly, "Did you hear that, Mom? Nate said, 'I want to play' instead of, 'You want to play.' He's becoming unautistic...
...Nate's teacher called me last week. She told me that on the basis of Nate's athletic ability and leadership skills, he had been chosen to represent Higashi at the Special Olympics this summer at Harvard...
...sent Nate to Higashi because I knew he was capable of more. I know exactly what my husband would have quipped: "I can't believe Nate's going to Harvard...