Cynthia Lord's Blog, page 94

Autism Through a Sibling's Eyes

I answered mail yesterday, and there were quite a few letters that touched me from children who have brothers or sisters with disabilities. Here's one to represent them all.

I was my sister's helper, mindreader, and caretaker basically. I helped calm her down (I was the only one who could), mind reader because when she was pointing and screaming, I would tell my mom what she wanted. When I read RULES it explained what I couldn't and told how I felt. --S, 10 years old

Someone needs a haircut

My daughter calls Milo's shaggy look "The Yeti." 

Wow. I love this, SuperGrade5!

 

CCIRA--Thursday: The Conference

At the Colorado Reading Association conference, I presented two sessions.  The first was on revision. I gave teachers ideas on how to approach revision the way an author does--so revisions feel like the next step in the writing process and not punishment (the way kids often view them).  I also gave tips and techniques that I use to deepen and expand characters and scenes, pick details that matter, and how to know what to cut and tighten. It was a very practical session, and I felt a lot of good vibes from the audience. 

When I discussed critiquing and giving feedback, I used an Oreo Cookie as my example: start with positives, then suggestions and questions, followed by positives.  I had brought a couple packages of cookies. It was fun to pull them out from behind the podium and give everyone a treat, and I knew it would help them remember the format.

I wasn't sure if airport security would allow Oreo Cookies (the filling is spreadable, after all), but I saw the TSA screener smile as my carry-on went through the x-ray. I guess Oreos aren't considered potential threats to National Security. :-)

I met so many nice people at the conference, including my guide for the day, Debbie.  She was a great help to me, assisting me to set up, passing out handouts and Oreo Cookies, and making sure I got wherever I needed to go. 


Debbie and me

My second session was a panel with Jordan Sonnenblick and Wendy Mass. Wendy and Jordan participated through Skype.  It was great to meet them both--even virtually! 

When it was my turn, the moderator suggested the audience simply ask me questions. RULES had been on the Colorado Children's Book Award list, so many teachers were familiar with it. I talked about the needs of siblings who have brothers and sisters with disabilities and a little of my own family story.  Afterward, a teacher came up to me with lots of emotion in her eyes.  She has two disabled siblings and thanked me.  It was one of those moments that feels chosen, like fate put us together that day.  I gave her a big hug.

It was fabulous to spend time with the other authors and illustrators who came to the conference.  I had suppers with Toni Buzzeo, Jennifer Ward, Steve Gray, Kevin O'Malley, and Mary Downing Hahn. What a friendly, funny, fun group--I loved it!  And David Lubar spoke the day after I did, and it was great to see him again--even if it could only be for a few minutes.

Another highlight for me was being able to meet two online friends:  Carol from Carol's Corner and robinellen .  They were both as kind and lovely in person as they are online. It was perfectly wonderful!  

And I met many great teachers.  Having been a teacher, I miss that world sometimes.  Surrounded by all that positive, creative energy in such a beautiful place,



I felt very inspired. 

CCIRA--Thursday's Peaks: The Conference

At the Colorado Reading Association conference, I presented two sessions.  The first focused on revision. I gave ideas for teachers to teach and approach revision the way an author does--so revisions feel like the next step in the writing process, not the way kids usually view them (a punishment).  I also gave tips and techniques that I use to deepen and expand characters and scenes, pick details that matter, and how to know what to cut and tighten. It was a very practical session, and I felt a lot of good vibes from the audience. 

When I talked about critiquing and giving feedback, I used an Oreo Cookie as my example: start with positives, then suggestions and questions, followed by positives.  I brought cookies for everyone to eat. It was fun to pull them out from behind the podium and give everyone a treat, and I knew it would help them remember the format.

I wasn't sure if airport security would allow Oreo Cookies (the filling is spreadable, after all), but I saw the TSA screener smile as my carry-on went through the x-ray. I guess Oreos aren't considered potential threats to National Security. :-)

I met so many nice people at the conference, including my guide for the day, Debbie.  She was a great help to me, assisting me to set up, passing out handouts and Oreo Cookies, and making sure I got wherever I needed to go. 


Debbie and me

My second session was a panel with Jordan Sonnenblick and Wendy Mass. Wendy and Jordan participated through Skype.  It was great to meet them both--even virtually! 

When it was my turn, the moderator, suggested the audience simply ask me questions. RULES had been on the Colorado Children's Book Award list, so many teachers were familiar with it. I ended up talking about the needs of siblings who have brothers and sisters with disabilities and a little of my own family story.  Afterward, a teacher came up to me with lots of emotion in her eyes.  She has two disabled siblings and thanked me.  It was one of those moments that feels chosen, like fate put us together that day.  I gave her a big hug.

It was fabulous to spend time with the other authors and illustrators who came to the conference.  I had suppers with Toni Buzzeo, Jennifer Ward, Steve Gray, Kevin O'Malley, and Mary Downing Hahn. What a friendly, funny, fun group--I loved it!  And David Lubar spoke the day after I did, and it was great to see him again--even if it could only be for a few minutes.

Another highlight for me was being able to meet two online friends:  Carol from Carol's Corner and robinellen .  They were both as kind and lovely in person as they are online. It was perfectly wonderful!  

And I met many great teachers.  Having been a teacher, I miss that world sometimes.  Surrounded by all that positive, creative energy in such a beautiful place,



I felt very inspired. 

CCIRA--Wednesday: Colorado

And OH, what a peak it was.

 

When my school visit was canceled, Candace, the media specialist at Governor's Ranch Elementary School, asked me if I'd like to go to lunch--since we both had the day off!  I said "yes" so fast and so excitedly, I hope I didn't scare her!

Candace gave me the choice of going toward downtown Denver or toward the mountains.

"The mountains," I said.

But when she took the turn in that direction, I was totally unprepared for what suddenly loomed ahead. At first, I thought I was looking at clouds. When I realized those were mountains as far as I could see in both directions, I was almost in tears. It was that powerful. 

 

I thought I'd seen mountains before. 



But I've never seen anything like that.

Candace drove us up, up, up to Red Rocks Amphitheater.

 


And though it was around zero degrees, it was sparkling and clear.  I could see the skyline of Denver in the distance. 





Candace :-)



We had lunch at the Red Rocks Grill.



It was delicious and so western and funky-fun--I loved it!!!


Sherri?



"Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!" "AGAIN?!"

I sat next to Bullwinkle, my Maine friend, but I'd never seen the black squirrels with the tufted ears before.



After we ate, Candace gave me some choices of things to see. One was a farm that has elk and buffalo.  I've never seen either animal in real life, so I picked that one.

Candace drove me through Evergreen, past some imposing and fiercly beautiful rock mountains.




Do you see the chains holding the rocks back? YIKES!

And it was so fun to see the animals!





Candace also told me about some Colorado animals that I was rather glad NOT to see:  cougars and rattlesnakes. 

Then she drove me back to the hotel through some of the prettiest landscapes I've ever seen.




I couldn't have asked for a kinder, more generous guide or a prettier day or a bigger experience to have in Colorado. 

Tomorrow: The Conference and the People I Met

CCIRA--Peak #1: Wednesday

And OH, what a peak it was.

 

When my school visit was canceled, Candace, the media specialist at Governor's Ranch Elementary School, asked me if I'd like to go to lunch--since we both had the day off!  I said "yes" so fast and so excitedly, I hope I didn't scare her!

Candace gave me the choice of going toward downtown Denver or toward the mountains.

"The mountains," I said.

But when she took the turn in that direction, I was totally unprepared for what suddenly loomed ahead. At first, I thought I was looking at clouds. When I realized those were mountains as far as I could see in both directions, I was almost in tears. It was that powerful. 

 

I thought I'd seen mountains before. 



But I've never seen anything like that.

Candace drove us up, up, up to Red Rocks Amphitheater.

 


And though it was around zero degrees, it was sparkling and clear.  I could see the skyline of Denver in the distance. 





Candace :-)



We had lunch at the Red Rocks Grill.



It was delicious and so western and funky-fun--I loved it!!!


Sherri?



"Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!" "AGAIN?!"

I sat next to Bullwinkle, my Maine friend, but I'd never seen the black squirrels with the tufted ears before.



After we ate, Candace gave me some choices of things to see. One was a farm that has elk and buffalo.  I've never seen either animal in real life, so I picked that one.

Candace drove me through Evergreen, past some imposing and fiercly beautiful rock mountains.




Do you see the chains holding the rocks back? YIKES!

And it was so fun to see the animals!





Candace also told me about some Colorado animals that I was rather glad NOT to see:  cougars and rattlesnakes. 

Then she drove me back to the hotel through some of the prettiest landscapes I've ever seen.




I couldn't have asked for a kinder, more generous guide or a prettier day or a bigger experience to have in Colorado. 

Tomorrow: Peak #2: The Conference and the People I Met

CCIRA--the valleys

My trip to the Colorado Reading Association conference was full of peaks and valleys.  I don't even know one single word I could use to sum it up.  It had some hard challenges and many heart-stopping wonders. 

Valleys:

Getting there in a blizzard.

Having school canceled on the day I was supposed to do a visit and not being able to reschedule.

A hotel fire alarm at 5 am.

Planning to speak on a panel with Jordan Sonnenblick and Wendy Mass, and neither of them were able to come, due to the weather.


Every floor on the hotel had a little sign telling how far above sea level you were

The altitude hitting my voice right in the middle of my first presentation and having to fight through it for a few minutes. 

Expecting 50 people at my talk on revision and having well over 100 show up  I had only brought 75 handouts and stayed up late emailing handouts that night.

Having it on my schedule that the luncheon would go from 1:00-2:00 at another hotel and thinking I had sufficient time to get the bus back to my hotel, grab my equipment, and set up Skype with Wendy Mass before our session at 2:45.  The luncheon went late, and Wendy called me as I was literally sprinting down the hotel hallway to my room to grab my projector.

Skyping with Jordan and Wendy was a good idea in theory, but it only worked okay--and it took time to get it all connected.

My pre-paid, reserved shuttle never arrived to take me back to the Denver airport. The shuttle service didn't answer their phone, and I couldn't reach anyone's cell phone at the conference, because they were all in events and had graciously turned their cell phones off. 


At the Red Rock Grill, a restaurant that I'll tell you about tomorrow


More than once, I thought it was lucky this wasn't "my first rodeo."  If I'd had these back-to-back challenges early in my speaking career, it would've been much harder.  These things were challenging, but even this morning, they are already becoming shrug-able and funny--and some of them led to wonderful things.

Tomorrow, I'll tell you the peaks.  Those are things I'll never forget. 

Wow.

I was stunned into single word "wow"s today. The librarian at the Colorado school I was supposed to visit called me this morning and asked me if I'd like to have lunch and a little tour, since school was canceled.

I said, "YES!" and she took me on a drive to see the mountains.

Wow.


 
Wow.


Wow.

Hello (and OMG!) from Colorado!

This trip is really proving to be memorable!  I arrived in Colorado, ready to do a school visit and speak at the Colorado Reading Association conference. At the conference, I have two sessions: one by myself on revision and a panel with Jordan Sonnenblick and Wendy Mass on writing realistic fiction for children and young adults.

However. . .   

It's bitterly cold here in Colorado, and the school I was scheduled to visit this morning canceled school.  If this were a school I could drive to, I would just reschedule it. But I can't do that with this one.  I feel badly that the kids were ready and excited for me to come, but there really isn't anything we can do.

And the wintry mix and snow in the Midwest and on the East Coast has meant many of the authors scheduled to come to this conference will not be able to come--including Jordan Sonnenblick and Wendy Mass.  We're trying to arrange Skype for them, but if not, I'll have to do a 90 minute program on my own. Which I can do, but I know that audience is going to be so disappointed if Wendy and Jordan aren't there.  So that's hard.

I suppose it's a blessing that I have today off  to put that back-up program together--just in case.   

And the hotel fire alarm went off at 5 am this morning.  As I woke up, I thought, "OH NO! I have to go outside and wait for the firetrucks? In sub-zero temperatures?  At five in the morning?"

The problem was in the pool area, so the hotel let us stand in the lobby. I said hi to a group of teachers--all of us wearing snow boots, winter coats and pajamas! :-)

But I had a lively and delightful supper last night with Toni Buzzeo and Kevin O'Malley. Kevin and I have spouses who take care of our kids so we can do events.  The only way I can do school visits and conferences is because my husband is home with my son with autism, and we talked about what a challenge is to be self-employed and juggle all the details and schedules of a family.

Kevin told us he tries to sketch 10 things every day.  And he gives those sketches away to people he sees or meets. He whipped out his sketchpad and drew this for my husband.  


by Kevin O'Malley

And now I have a "found" day.  I'm not near downtown Denver, and it's really too cold outside to walk very far, but I'm here and I have some time. So I'm going to go downstairs and see what's possible.