Thursday, November 24, 2011

Giving Thanks to Cooper's Team

In honor of Thanksgiving, I give thanks to some incredible people who came into our lives starting when Cooper was an infant and have since become part of our extended family.

I am so, so grateful to the following individuals who are among the many who have been part of our journey with Cooper, who has been diagnosed with hypotonia (low muscle tone), global developmental delays, and autism spectrum disorder:

- My dear friend Carolyn F., who encouraged me to have Goober evaluated by the Early Intervention Program and whose son was Goober's first best friend;

- Our service coordinators during Cooper's years in EI and CPSE (Committee on Preschool Special Education), who fielded my requests for evaluations, placement, and more: Crystal from Personal-Touch, Yen-Yu and Bonnie from University Settlement, Lynnette at These Our Treasures (TOTS), and Hedi and Nancy from NYL Lifestart;

- The Early Intervention Official Designees who approved Cooper's Individualized Family Service Plans (and there were many!);

- The evaluators who assessed Cooper and recommended that he receive occupational therapy, speech therapy, physical therapy, and special instruction through EI, CPSE (when he went to preschool), and finally the Committee for Special Education (when he started kindergarten), and the administrators at CPSE and CSE who authorized the services;

- The talented staff at the Seaver Autism Center at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, whose testing and ultimate diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder enabled us to better understand Cooper;

- The teachers and staff at These Our Treasures (TOTS) and Small World North who nurtured Cooper as a toddler and preschooler, and helped him blossom into the person he is today;

- The bus drivers and matrons who brought Cooper safely to and from TOTS (when he was only 2 years old!) and later to kindergarten and first grade;

- Cooper's pediatrician, neurologist, ENT, cardiologist, and orthopaedists;

- Dorothy Siegel, for creating the ASD-Nest program in NYC, and Fred for knowing that Cooper belongs there;

- The city and state of New York, for funding the Early Intervention Program, CPSE, CSE and the ASD-Nest program;

- And last, but certainly not least, the inspiring therapists whose kindness, dedication, and TLC have made all the difference:

Occupational therapists:
Pat, Ruth, Peggy, Kristen, Rachel, Jen D. and Sam (at the fabulous Kids in Motion sensory gym in Riverdale), Jennifer (a.k.a. "Swim Jen" with Aquabilities);

Physical therapists:
Brian (you got him walking!), Diane, Dorian, Markella;

Speech-language therapists:
Ivy (you taught him sign language!), Jennifer M., Jenny, Svetlana, Joanne, Jen K., Jen L., Lori (oral-motor guru);

Special education itinerant teachers:
Jenn N. (a.k.a. "New Jenn"), Illana, Maria, Marilyn, Brian.

You're the best!!!!

Sunday, October 30, 2011

An Ode to Paper

I am a paper person. Always have been, always will be.

Today I was reminded how important paper is to me. I came across a box of floppy disks -- version 2, the small ones that had a plastic case so they weren't as floppy as the original style. They were from when I used a Mac computer, probably an Apple IIe or something you could buy back in 1990.

It makes me so sad to think that I can never retrieve any of the documents on those disks -- everything from Frosh English to articles I wrote in the graduate journalism program at Medill, in Chicago -- because the format is so out-of-date that I'd have to spend a month or so hunting down a computer that could still read them (if one even exists).

Worse is that I diligently printed lists of all the files on those disks, so I know exactly what's lost.

One can only imagine the details behind a story labeled "41-year-old Scumbag," from my legal reporting class at Medill.

The disk contained other stories from that class, including:

"Burton -- Please Kill Me"
A man who was serving a life sentence in prison was begging the court to sentence him to death, while the court refused to let him fire his public defender, who wouldn't enter this request on the man's behalf.

"Ghost"
City employees were on a ghost payroll and collected a salary without having to show up for work (where can I sign up?).

"Weddings Suck"
A woman's former fiance was suing her to get the deposits back from their canceled wedding. I remember calling her to ask if she wanted to comment, and feeling horrible that she didn't know about the lawsuit until I called.

I'm sure I saved some of my articles from Medill, but now I wish I'd saved everything. How was I to know 15 years ago that the data storage system would become obsolete?

Part of why these articles mean so much to me is that they remind me of a time when I was unencumbered, easily able to be the first one into the newsroom and one of the last ones out at the end of each day.

It was such fun to be, as my teacher Jim once called me, a #$% maniac who went so far as to bring a phone to plug into a jack spotted in the courthouse press room (I only made local calls; these were the days before cell phones and smart phones and all that; besides, if anyone had asked, I would have given them $20 toward the phone bill ...).

This is why there are file cabinets in my bedroom and boxes of clips in our closet. Marc and I keep paper copies of our work so that we'll have proof of our labor, no matter what happens in the world of computers.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Time for Cake!

So, today is my first 39th birthday. Which means that seeing a book titled Fighting Fat Over Forty made me think, "Aww, #@$%! Is that what's next?"

The good news about being in the middle ages is that it's followed by the Renassaince (right?).

I'm grateful to be celebrating this day, and every other day, with my family and friends, and am especially grateful to my mom for always answering the phone when I call.

But I've noticed as I've gotten older (and have observed in others) that it's less important that there's a fuss made at one's birthday and more important that one celebrates the continuation of life by doing absolutely nothing (or as little as possible) that day.

My friend Jennifer always tried to take a personal day if her birthday fell on a weekday. Brilliant!

So here's to doing nothing, and having a glass of wine and a second piece of cake after Goober is asleep tonight.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

The Kid Is Awake -- HELP!

Well, Cooper just walked into my room, zipped over to the computer, and said, "What the heck?" while staring at the screen.

I need one of those screen savers people use to hide what's on their monitor from their boss. In this case, the boss is 6 years old.

Cooper has always been fascinated by what I'm looking at online, writing or reading in an email, or doing on the computer in general.

But since he reads anything and everything, I'm not sure how to proceed with this blog. I certainly have a lot to say, but how much do I really want to share -- and subsequently discuss -- with my child?

Do I just start posting in pig Latin?

Real Latin?

That could work. I've always wanted him to learn another language (since he's already fluent in Toys I Want). Might be a pain for those of you trying to read this, though.

This'll be a good lesson for him. Mommy is doing something that is NOT ABOUT HIM. And if he thinks this is boring? Keep up the good work, Mommy!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Questions for "The Ethicist"

When we get The New York Times on the weekends, it's always amusing to read "The Ethicist" column in the magazine.

What I'd like to know is:

1. Is it ethical to consume enough samples at a store (in my area, Costco and Stew Leonard's get top billing for product availability) to constitute a meal (if not in protein content, at least in calories and/or fat content)?

2. My local Stop & Shop has a great gas rewards promotion, where if you buy X number of Y products during any given week, you can qualify for up to 40 cents off each gallon of gas purchased at a participating gas station. Is it ethical to buy the products to qualify for the savings, fill up my tank, and then return the items?

3. What about buying enough clothes from an online retailer with a very, very generous and forgiving return policy to qualify for a $20 gift card, only to return before the credit card billing cycle ends so it's a wash?

4. If I happen to find coupons for a free gift card in the recycling bin, can I pretend to be that person so I get the gift card?

5. If I want to use my husband's pricey monthly pass on the train to go into the city -- labeled M for male, so as to deter sharing -- can I just tell the conductor that I've had a sex change operation and yes, it is my monthly pass?

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Is Anyone Reading This?

Hello!

The title of this blog, "I Still Eat Ramen," is a reference to something I wrote my senior year at Stanford, about things no one told you about graduating from college. One of them was that you'll appreciate dorm food after eating Top Ramen for the third time that week in your dimly lit apartment.

Which is something I still eat.

Eagerly.

Because it's easy and cooking is so tiring.

But that's another story.

Come back soon! I promise you'll be surprised.