On friday morning, Seth's faithful teacher came at 10:30.  Right on the dot!  Seth was outside on the porch anxiously waiting for him.  He hadn't come for a couple of weeks.  First time, Seth was just out of it from a few seizures.  Second time, Mr. Wells had family visiting.  This time, however, even though there was not school for the public sector, he came for Seth's sake.  We really appreciate him coming. Seth feels so good to have that kind of one on one teacher attention!  Even though Seth has turned 21 and there is no more reponsibility on the part of the school system, Mr. Wells could not just "leave" Seth.  Seth was very happy to have him keep coming each week.

In due appreciation, Seth wrote a letter of thanks to Mr. Wells.  He read it right away when he arrived.  Seth made sure of that!  On the table was a paper bag.  On the bag, it said "To Mr. Wells"  Mr. Wells picked up the bag.  It was light.  Not much to it.  He opened it up and a face peered back at him. "Gasp!"  "What in the world?  I thought it was a cat!"  He pulled out a coonskin cap!  "I have always wanted one of these!  Ever since I was a kid and lived in Kentucky and watched Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone, I wanted one of these!" He roared, laughing the whole time.

"I am going to put this on my head! Look, Seth! It fits!  I must look funny!  Wait til my wife sees this!  My daughter will laugh, my grandkids will love it! Thank you sooo much!"

I went to Seth's room and brought out his coonskin cap that Sylvia had given to him when we visited in Arkansas last month.  She makes them for thousands of people! Renaissance, Boy Scouts, Coon clubs, you name it.  She has quite a business making people happy!  http://crockettcoonskincaps.tripod.com

Once they both were donned with hats, I proceeded to get some shots of them.  Seth had a great time with it all, but he was ready to get back to work!  "I have my workbooks out, Mr. Wells, let's do them!" suggested Seth.  "Boy, I wish all my students liked school like you do, Seth!  In 22 years of teaching, you are the first! " boasted Mr. Wells.

Until Next Time, see how you can make someones dreams come true!  sign up and read the first 10 pages of The Puzzle Boy at www.thepuzzleboy.com! Live today like you had one month to live! Laugh!

Nancy Lynne!

I am soooo excited!  The Puzzle Boy has finally made its debut via the website! www.thepuzzleboy.com . I invite you to check it out.  I have a place where you can sign in and read the first 10 pages for free! It has been 21/2 years in the creating of my book.  I hope it will be worth it and benefit many, many people that are struggling with the issue of Autism, or any other malady for that fact. It is our story.  It is the nitty gritty of what we have been through to get where we are at today. 

When you have a child, it is difficult enough to keep them going in the right direction.  Throw in Autism Spectrum Disorders and it magnifies one hundred fold.  You can be on your knees 24/7 just to make it through each day!  Let me encourage you, it can get better.  You  need perseverance.  You need strength beyond what you have. 

Our Puzzle Boy has been a teacher to us.  He does not know that.  He still thinks we are  his teacher.  That is fine. That is how it needs to be, but yes, indeed, for those that want to learn, there are powerful lessons in character building that has to take place.  (Evidentally, I needed lots and lots! Boy is it a painful thing to go through!)

Anyways, please let me know what you think.  I value good, honest input.

Until Next Time, Happy reading! 

Nancy Lynne

"There is a tornado watch in the area.  Circumstances are favorable.  Go to your basement.  If you have no shelter, lay face down in a ditch or a low area.  Stay away from windows.  The winds can be in excess of 70 mph....." On droned my weather radio. We sure have had our share of inclement weather warnings this year!  I feel like I am in Florida dodging hurricanes or something.

"Seth, come on!  Get your clothes. The storm is coming.  We need to go downstairs!"  He remains sitting on his bed reading his Bible chapter.  He is reading a chapter a day.  Nothing stops him. I take the Bible from him and hold it out like a carrot in front of his nose so he would follow.  It worked.  He was soon sitting at the bottom stair, still in his PJ's, reading once again.  Totally oblivious. 

Storm?  Tornado?  Hail?  So what! I am in the middle of reading and here I sit.  There is no thought.  Just basic, childlike trust.  No fear.  I think he could be in the middle of a tornado, twirling around, land in a treetop and still keep reading!  Really! Hence, our Autism friends really need us caretakers.  They are precious, naive, trusting, secure.  It reminds me of the story of Jesus on the boat.  The storm is blasting all around.  His followers are afraid for their very lives.  Jesus is sleeping in the boat.  Totally oblivious.  His friends holler for him. Finally he wakes up in His own good time and is not at all fearful.  He knows His Father in heaven is all powerful and will take care of them.  He uses that power and says "Peace be still."  The storm halts. All is calm.

The wind came blasting upon us, the trees tossed and turned, the birdfeeders swung and nearly flew off their hooks. The chimes are clanging and banging.  Two of them lost their hook and landed.  I found them later. I was not afraid, just cautious. Soon it all ended.  The peace came.  All was well. Seth took off up the stairs when he was done reading.  "I think I would like to take a shower now"  He announced. Ok, sure.  Go ahead.  Peace be still. Maybe he is all right after all!  Maybe I am the one that needs the caretaking.  I do.  I need my Savior to protect me from myself! Arrgh!

I looked at Seth as we took an evening walk, in the sun, in the warmth and in the calm after a stormy day. Wow!  He's a handsome dude!  If he grew like normal and matured out like normal, he'd be a fantastic catch for some young lady!  It struck me just yesterday, however, that after all these years of longing for him to be "normal," It just is not in the cards.  Truly a miracle would have to take place.  I just can't go there.  I have to be so proud of who he is, of the good decisions he makes and appreciate how much he loves me.  Too bad for the special young lady who missed out!  We get to keep him!

Until Next Time,  Start reading your Bible, a chapter a day.  Food for the soul.  Be thankful for the blessings you have. Don't dwell on what you don't have, it will only crush you.

Nancy Lynne!

PS, my webmaster says that The Puzzle Boy book is nearly ready for download.  Keep watching!

The second day of our Adventurating with Autism via The Puzzle Boy began in a good way.  The sun peered just over the horizon creating a golden backdrop for the sillouette of 5 deer grazing along the green hillside just above our cabin.  Sylvia got some pretty nice shots of it.  I would call her our in-house photographer!  She finds the sights and is quick to take advantage of it!

After a hearty breakfast, singing some beautiful praise songs to God for the beauty that surrounded us and donning on our beloved hiking boots, we gathered our lunch and camelbak water packs full of 3 liters of fresh spring water and loaded up the vehicles once again.  It was still a bit brisk out that cool spring morning, but by the time we arrived at the trailhead, we were shedding our coats as the sun was promising to warm us up.  I am really glad we did that as it warmed up pretty good.  I still had a sweatshirt and my pack to put that in if I needed to.

The trail started out pretty flat and scenic.  With the leaves still off the trees, it was easy to see the lay of the land and the greater hills beyond.  If the trees were in fact laden with their green clothing, that is all we would see!  Trees!  Soon the trail headed down.  Down and rocky.  Seth was bearing the lead.  This was his usual position.  He has a great stride!  I was in the back, making sure that everyone was taken care of. (Hmmmm!)  My short legs and sore ankles were keeping me there, I think!  Anyways, conversations amongst us all was good!  Because of this, we became, at least I became oblivious to the trail we just took.  This hindered me in the return visit! It was a loooot farther than I remembered.  Over all, it was an 8 hour hike on the trails this day!

We soon came to a fork in the trail where everyone so kindly waited for me! haha!  So nice of them.  We took off to the right.  Before we did so, we were warned that the trail from then on became quite dangerous.  Seth would have to be seriously watched out for and he could not take the lead.  This was a bit of a challenge.  "Seth, you need to stay near us!" We tried to hold his hand, but he felt that was not needed. (Independence Day has arrived!)  We hung onto his backpack, but then we could not see where we were going.  The path soon narrowed.  We could see far below us.  We must have been 1500 feet to a straight down shot of the Buffalo River!  It was gorgeous as it weaved and meandered in its turquoise path contrasted with the gray of the trees!

Seth is pretty sure-footed and focused, yet it was easy to be uneasy!  We do not live in his head!  That is impossible.  We can guess what is going on, but we don't know everyting.  Autism thinks a little bit differently.  I don't know if he was concentrating on the trail, or concentrating on getting up front and wanting to be first.  Mark really worked with him on the narrowest of trails.  I think he understood the possible danger.  It was rewarding to see Seth look at the scenery and point to the canoes far below with wonder.  Even the birds were flying below us.  The trees were below us.  At one point, there was a hole in the rocks where you could climb through.  Seth was pretty intriqued by that hole.  I think he wanted to climb through it.  His pack would not allow for that.  However, Mr. V. took off his pack and climbed through rather than around to humor Seth.  Oh, Seth was humored! He really liked that!  I got a picture of it!

It was pleasant eating our lunch under the trees overlooking the 3-D scenery.  Reality struck once again as we had to travel back across the narrow, rocky Goat Trail to the fork in the path.  This time we turned down the other rocky trail.  Down, down, down we obliviously hiked.  We found Grandma's deserted cabin at the bottom. It was fun daydreaming about what it must have felt like living there far from anywhere in the 1920's.  On the wall was tacked all kinds of wallpaper, cardboard and newspapers from the Roaring 20's. I even found a piece of feedsack fabric stuck to the walls.

Why do we take all these adventures?  What is the purpose?  Well, it keeps us alive and young and the adrenalin pumping, of course!  Not only that, but it is soooo good for Autism.  It keeps the neurokenetic flow going between the mind and body.  It develops skills. It develops the relationship between the right and left hemispheres of the brain. It developes small muscle tone.  It gives variety so he does not become stale.  Seth needs to be with other people to keep developing social skills.  I really do feel sorry for new people as they get initiated, however.  When he finds a new listening ear, they have to hear when everyones birthday is, how old they are or will be and then when everyones half-birthday is.  He has it all down.  Numbers are his "thing."  Birthdays and dates on the calendar for holidays are his "thing."  Just like you like to talk about and inform everyone about  your thing, Autistics love to tell about their thing!

Actually, when you hike along with others with an autistic child, you can learn a lot about them, also!

Until The Next Day's Adventure,

Have a super day, night, afternoon, wherever you are, and Praise God for it!

Nancy Lynne!