Do the Cha-Cha!

You can't see it, but my husband and I are doing little celebratory dances this week. Actually, it's probably good that you can't see it. Neither of us can dance. Fun for us, maybe, but not a pretty sight. 

Why the celebration cha-cha? Yes, Michigan State just whomped Michigan--always a good thing in our book-- but the real reason we're dancing is that Daughter Dearest (DD) is making progress. Or maybe Progress, with a capital P. DD, who's 20, got her first job three weeks ago at Kohl's. She worked three days this week, is keeping up with her Algebra class, AND today she volunteered with the Kohl's crew at a local therapeutic equestrian center for an annual event.  Not so unusual for most 20 year olds, maybe, but for DD this was noteworthy. More than noteworthy. Celebration cha-cha worthy!  


Last post, I explained DD's battles with both OCD and Asperger's. The last couple of years have been doozies. She crashed and burned her first semester of college. Came back, tried taking classes locally at community college, but struggled there too. Began applying for jobs, but never got past the first interview anywhere.  She spent a year in therapy and her physician tweaked her meds, to address symptoms of depression and her extreme lack of focus and motivation. But for the most part, we were going nowhere fast.


So here's the ta-da! part: This past summer we had a counselor, well-versed in autism, do an educational evaluation for DD, not only to rule out Asperger's, but also to learn more about her strengths and challenges. It was an eye-opener. We knew she was bright, but her counselor revealed that her IQ is actually very high. Despite her struggles with basic college Algebra, DD scores off-the-charts in computational math. Somewhat less so, but still high, in applied math. Her organization (executive function) and lifeskills, however, are way below normal, and she has extremely high anxieties and low self-esteem. DD would stop attending courses if she felt she was not doing something right or if she hadn't completed the homework or studied for a test. She was guilt ridden and stuck. 


The counselor confirmed that, though it's a tough call because she's on the fence in a lot of areas, DD is on the Asperger's end of the autism spectrum. We always knew she had traits, but girls with Asperger's present so differently from boys, that we just didn't see the ASD. We considered her quirky. Her OCD was our biggest concern. The counselor also helped DD understand that obtaining disability services and supports would be key to her success in school, since she would need tutoring, extra time in exams and understanding from her professors. 


So that's helped. This semester has been one of trying out the supports to see if they can help DD not only stick with it, but shine. She's gotten an A on the first test. Mid-terms are next week. We'll see.  


Meanwhile, we've also been working since the beginning of the year with Indiana VR. In the spring, she began working with a local agency providing employment services.  They interviewed her, tweaked her resume, and then had her fill out applications. They even took her to job sites to submit the applications--something DD was always loathe to do. Kohl's hired her last month. So amazing. And thank you, Kohl's, for encouraging your employees to volunteer in their communities. We'd been trying to get DD out to volunteer for the past year.  It's a good thing to do, it bolsters the resume, and it helps people make connections with one another. 


Okay, enough already.  We know that sometimes it'll be two steps forward and one back, but right now good things are happening.  Do the cha-cha!


As a family, we are, after all...moving on.