Revision Decisions

I have read other Jeff Anderson books and still shoot myself for not seeing him when my boss proposed I drive the 50 miles to a workshop he was presenting. When Revision Decisions: Talking Through Sentences and Beyond rose to the top of my pile, I eagerly dug in. Once again I was captivated by the readability and practicality that Jeff and his coauthor Deborah Dean imbued throughout the work.

This book targets middle school but could certainly play up or down grade levels. The book is arranged in two sections: the basics and the lesson sets. In the basics he presents his revision mnemonic DRAFT as a way to teach students how to revise. This is not editing- making the sentences grammatically correct- although he uses grammatical instruction to help students organize their revisions. DRAFT represents the decisions writers make:
     D- Delete unnecessary and repeated words
     R- Rearrange words, phrases or clauses
     A- Add connectors
     F- Form new verb endings
     T- Talk it out
I particularly like the first two as it applies to summarizing. Teaching deletion and rearranging gives you extra bang for your buck as it were. The lesson sets demonstrate how to apply the strategy with examples and grammatically information.

The major technique that the authors propose is sentence combining and discussion. This is an evidence based practice that improves writing but largely is unused in classrooms today. Christopher Paul Curtis's book, The Watsons Go to Birmingham-- 1963, includes a sentence that can be deconstructed and rewritten as:
     He was smiling.
     He put his arms around my shoulder.
     We walked.

Students can be shown how to combine these sentences using elements of  DRAFT, talk about how their version differs from the author's, the effect of each version and then work through other sets. You might get

• We walked together; he was smiling as he put his arm around my shoulder.
• He smiled as he put his arm around my shoulder while we walked.
• Putting his arm around my shoulder, he smiled as we walked.

While the author wrote:

• He was smiling and even put his arm around my shoulder as we walked.

What is the effect of starting with smiling and ending with walking as opposed to starting with walking and moving on to body posture? Students can discuss the differences and come to conclusions about which they like best and why. Arrangement of phrases and clauses versus the main sentence stem impact emphasis and anticipation.  Discussion about the effect of the arrangement is what lets students begin to have these discussions with themselves as they carefully select how to write their sentences.  After a modeled example and small group collaboration, students are set free to search through their writer's notebook, find a place where the day's lesson can be applied and do so.

It is important to note that all the steps are not worked on at once. A particular skill is taught. You might start with reviewing how to write and punctuate a series or list and then move to how to delete words and create a new sentence with remaining material. You might have a unit on using transitions and start with how to use prepositions or FANBOYS (coordinating conjunctions- for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so).  Focusing on one element at a time is essential if students are to learn each element well.

Clearly the authors have written in the era of Common Core- text examples all come from nonfiction works of varying levels of complexity and from different content areas. These examples showcase how you can integrate the skill of combining sentences with nonfiction works. Appendixes in the text include both deconstructed sentences from these works and the author's original words. One point the authors emphasize is when comparing the key is not to replicate the author's words but to combine the sentences in a way that makes sense.

The major criticism that I have of the DRAFT revision strategy is that it omits content. Many students fail to answer a prompt and so never get the credit they deserve. Students need to be taught to dissect prompts and check to be sure they have completely responded. They need to be taught how to organize their thoughts so they make sense, how to not make logical fallacies, how to use rhetoric and how to thoroughly explain their thinking. These revision steps are essential to good writing as well. While students will become better writers if they are taught how to combine sentences in interesting ways, they need to move beyond that as well.

Struggling readers

Lori Jamison Rog's book, Struggling Readers: Why Band-aids Don't Stick and Worksheets Don't Work, is an easy to read text full of ideas and worksheet masters designed to help teachers in grades 3-9 help provide reading instruction to our struggling readers. Yes, it is a little ironic that her title slams worksheets and yet she has several throughout. The difference is that they are not the typical reading worksheet highlighting a phonics skill, asking students to find the main idea or identify three details from the reading. Her worksheets are more along the lines of graphic organizers- systems that help students identify and organize their thinking. Graphic organizers are highly recommended for all manner of instruction, especially for students with learning disabilities or who are learning to speak English. They include items such as an Analyzing a graphic novel page in which students are asked to identify the settings, sounds, emotions, movement and speech of the sections and then think about what each means; a vocabulary square, a modification of a Frayer model, in which student look at a word and identify both a personal connection to the word and a visual; and a text features checklist. Yes, they are all worksheets, but one must remember that all worksheets are not the same.

Rog comments that dysfluent readers rarely result from a lack of phonics information (p. 92). That being said, approximately 10% of secondary struggling readers need phonics instruction. Do not discard phonics instruction entirely. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of the student and provide instruction where instruction is needed. If a student has good phonetic skills except does not know how to pronounce words with a final v sound- teach it, but that skill alone. Just do not throw a barrage of phonics worksheets at the student. Unfortunately many of the reading interventions we use do not actually address the specific problem of the particular student, but rather the imagined weaknesses of a student. When a student is making huge progress under Wilson reading BECAUSE they have a phonics weakness, they should not be moved to a comprehension intervention like READ 180 or LLI as they move to a new building or grade level. Inversely, a child who is struggling with comprehension should not be put into a phonics program like Wilson merely because they are a struggling reader. RTI approaches are supposed to be targeted interventions that meet the individual student's needs and are complementary to classroom instruction. As students get older, reading instruction switches to more comprehension focus, but if underlying foundations of phonics are not present, the student will not be successful. Further, if a weak vocabulary is found to be present, as it often is in students that struggle with reading, high-quality, evidence-based vocabulary instruction needs to be a component of the intervention.

One of her major thrusts resonates with me. She repeatedly comes back to research that says, "A steady dose of grade-level text for below-grade-level readers not only fails to help them grow, it can even set them back" (p. 13). She even quotes the Common Core State Standards Appendix 9 with "Students need opportunities to stretch their reading abilities but also to experience the satisfaction and pleasure of easy, fluent reading within [their reading abilities]" (p. 13). We need to provide independent reading practice at student reading level- this might mean a high school needs to invest in hi-lo books to ensure that students have access to text within their interests and ability level. Students need instructional level reading material, material they can read with 90-98% word accuracy and at least 75% comprehension accuracy. We need to be careful of our word callers- students who can read all the words but have no idea of what they are reading. These students need to be placed in easier material until their comprehension catches up with their word identification. When reading approaches the lower end of this band, students are stretching. Can you imagine only being able to understand 3/4 of a passage. If you think back to your last interaction with a 3 year old, that is the level of comprehension we get from their speech. Do you really understand all the message? Can you tweak out the nuances of their meaning? This is the task you are asking students to complete. When we reach the frustration level- able to read less than 90% of the words accurately or comprehend less than 75% of the text, we are discouraging reading. Yes, we can power through for a while, but our ability to work at this level is severely limited. Challenge or stretch reading then is not based on the grade level of the student, but on the student's reading level. 

One comprehension strategy she highlights is WITIK folders (p. 102-3). This is based on the K-W-L chart work of Tony Stead (2005). There are four categories of information: What I think I know, what was confirmed in the reading, what I learned and what I wonder or expect to learn. A folder is used and each side of the folder gets one label. Sticky notes are used to record information. On the front side, students are asked to record what they think they know. This is less intimidating than "what I know" and allows for misconceptions. Struggling readers with limited vocabularies and/or background knowledge about the topic will be more willing to participate if that element of caution is injected into their work. Then, as they read they look for confirmation of their selected facts. Confirmed information is moved from the front cover to the inside page. Struggling readers are usually struggling writers. Allowing them to just move the note instead of rewrite it is easier. They could be asked to put a page or line number on the sticky with where the evidence was found. Additional information is added to the what I learned section during and after a second reading. A number of pieces of information could be required in this area. A shorter text could require three new pieces of information while a longer piece could require 10. On the back of the folder wonders occur. These could be from before you  read the text what do you hope to learn or afterwards what questions do you still have. I think this strategy would be interesting to use on nonfiction pieces.  I like the sticky notes. It allows for lots of student choice- color of sticky, where exactly to put it, even what color to write in. Since choice primes the brain for learning, this is a great way to begin.

struggling readers and reading at your level

This time of year high school social studies teachers are working toward WWII in their classes. Typical class organization involves assigning readings to students to support (or be) the instruction. Struggling readers look at the lovely picture in the text book and are reluctant to read it. In part because of the dry style, in part because of the content dense reading that is difficult if not impossible to get through and in part because of the reading level simply being higher than they can easily access. In Struggling Readers: Why Band aids Don't Stick and Worksheets Don't Work, Lori Jamison Rog argues that it is important students have access to reading material that is at their instructional level. This is the level at which the student can read 95% or more of the words accurately with adequate comprehension (at least 70%, but for better luck try at least 80%). So what is a teacher to do if they have been presented with a textbook series and the instructions that our students need to read at grade level including challenge material. It is on the test?

One approach is to differentiate the content. I know that this is a fallback catch phrase today, but it is what is needed. If you are lucky enough to have a special ed teacher, paraprofessional or English as a second language teacher to work with, they can do some of this preview and prepare for you or help conduct it in the classroom.

Here's an example of what might be done for a class beginning to talk about homefront efforts in the war:

Have the lower level readers (and maybe the struggling English speakers/learners) explore a website such as http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/world_war2/the_war_effort/ or a video segment that highlights the homefront efforts. This previews vocabulary and content. Discussion needs to occur. An adult should work with this group to facilitate discussion.

Have the on grade level readers explore the website http://www.ushistory.org/us/51b.asp and answer what did people on the home front do to help the war effort?  Small groups should come up with answers to share.

Above grade level readers can look at the library of congress site and explore the primary sources and answer the same question as the grade level readers.

After 15 minutes of this preview the whole class can come together and discuss what they learned about. Then they can read the text and answer the text questions. Having the chance to explore these sources prior to reading and discussion the material sets the kids up for success when reading.

If we give our kids access to the language they will see in the reading it increases the likelihood that the reading will be comprehensible and as a consequence, done.

Becoming a literacy leader

Jennifer Allen's book, Becoming a Literacy Leader: Supporting Learning and Change, 2nd edition, is a wonderful book about her evolution as a literacy coach and recommendations for others pursuing this path. She talks about her approach as layered coaching. Different activities that all play together in order to reinforce learning in her schools. Her job includes several roles including providing professional development, study groups, individual coaching in classrooms, supporting curriculum and assessments, helping kids on the bubble, creating unity throughout the school, cultivating teacher leaders, and dealing with budgets. In many ways she is very fortunate- her districts recognizes the value of literacy and math coaches, is willing to dedicate both space and financial resources to supporting the coaches and is willing to facilitate experimentation in order to try and meet the needs of the students. While she works in two buildings- a challenge anyone who has been itinerant recognizes- she has space in both. One building has a literacy room and the other involves shared space. As someone who travels, having a space to put your stuff undisturbed is a fabulous commodity others often take for granted.

Her layered approach covers levels I have seen referred to before- full community professional development- at faculty meetings and staff development days, small group attention- study groups, and individual interventions or coaching- she gives advice on implementing them as a new to the school individual and as an in house person. She repeatedly touches on the theme that for adults, professional development needs to come from a level of need of those served. Pushing in and telling people what they must learn and participate in is not a recipe for success. Choice is essential. Teachers need to select if they want to participate in a study group or coaching situation.

She runs about five study groups a year. Teachers elect whether they want to participate or not and provide input about when the group should meet- before school, after school, or during lunch. Each group focuses on a topic usually defined by a book. Unlike most study groups I have been exposed to, however, these do not stop there. Hour long sessions include a discussion and sharing of reflection upon evolving ideas and practice of things they are learning. This is followed by a video clip from either a commercial, on line or in house experience. This showcases an element under discussion. Then there is a reading excerpt in which teachers have an opportunity to reread a short segment that focuses on a critical new element and create meaning as part of a group. Then is a segment she refers to a toolbox time. This is strategy trial. Not role play of a strategy, but use a strategy such as read a poem and try out using two column notes on it. Teachers try to use a strategy they will try to integrate into their practice. Then there is an ideas into practice segment where they share out what they might try in their class and decide on the next reading assignment. Someone is assigned to follow up- remind people about the next meeting, assignments, what to bring and provide additional resources. This format seems a valuable one for PLCs. Each group needs a leader but that leader is not an administrator. I can envision a template that could be used for organizing each session. A teacher leader could be responsible for the organizing and hunting down of materials. Critical components are teacher choice, immediate utility of the learning, and practice within the group of the strategy under motion before being sent off to try it out.

One of the things that fascinated me was the school district's creation of a literacy intervention classroom. It is a classroom staffed with hand picked teachers, with a reduced student load. It has the same diversity as the school as a whole from a gender, socioeconomic and racial composition. Students also have to have good attendance and a history of having stable housing and thus having been in the district for their entire schooling. Students are recommended but parents must consent to placement. Students stay in the program for two years. The class has push in services from both reading and math specialists as well as a Title 1 teacher. Instruction in executive function skills is conducted- organization, time management, and initiation skills. Students are taught to use a small number of graphic organizers in order to complete assignments. Scaffolding of assignments is carefully crafted for these struggling learners. Schedule consistency is seen as critical- lunch and specials (art, music, PE) are at the same time every day. This allows for students on the bubble of success to experience a more intense and more consistent program that will help them to improve their reading, writing and study skills. Interestingly, the author acknowledges that these children may not make the same progress as they average child, but two years of literacy intervention may prevent them from falling further behind. This extra support means they will be in a stronger position when they enter middle school. Interestingly, at no point is the idea of tracking or homogenous grouping addressed. There is a given that grouping these kids in a class where they get extra attention and focus on trouble spots is important for their success.

I purchased this book as an ebook. I have read ebooks for pleasure and novels my high school students are reading, but this is the first professional ebook that I have worked with. Much like my experience with audiobooks, I struggled with the ebook format. I enjoyed taking it with me on my iPad as I traveled from building to building, but I found it easier to look back and annotate on paper. While writing this reflection, it was more challenging to search out information. The book is loaded with an amazing variety of charts as references. For me, finding them is easier in a traditional book. The book also abounds with references to other resources- children's books organized around teaching strategies and professional resources. I would rather have them as a hard copy. Perhaps this preference will change as I increase my exposure to ebooks. I do appreciate the fact that my professional library has not gotten heavier with the addition of another text.

Teaching Phonics and Word Study

Wiley Blevins' book, Teaching Phonics & Word Study in the Intermediate Grades, is a wonderful reference. The online resources that accompany the text are highly useful- including sample assessment tools, game templates and decoding skill templates. I have two previous posts here and here that I have written as I read this book. As a reference, I will definitely keep this on the shelf. It provides a detailed description of why to teach phonics and how to do it. While it focuses on the intermediate grades, it touches on the earlier grades as it does describe interventions for struggling learners.

Initial phonics instruction begins with understanding letter- sound correspondence. This is the first required step. Then it moves to using analogy to help with decoding words. For example, if a student knows that "cat" says cat, they can be taught that "bat" shares the /-at/ and thus should be read as bat. This is at the primary level with normally progressing readers. As students enter the intermediate grades they become exposed to longer words such as sedentary (bed--> sed, den--> en, Harry--> tary). This can be broken into syllables and known words can be used to help with pronunciation, decoding and ultimately comprehension. The challenges with decoding by analogy is that a) students need well developed phonemic awareness and alphabetic knowledge, b) students need a large sight word vocabulary and c) they need to know the word when they say it so that they can identify it as the correct word. When it comes to struggling readers at the high school level, some students still struggle with phonemic awareness (a small percent but they are there) and some have not mastered the alphabetic principles. Some of my students have very limited sight word vocabularies. They cannot search a big word for small words within them that are similar to words they know. Many of these students have limited vocabularies. If they are unaware of the word, they cannot tell if they have gotten it right because they do not recognize it. Unfortunately a percentage of these kids also have suppressed their curiosity about word knowledge and are not eagerly hoping to learn this newly discovered word. As such, teachers of older struggling readers need to carefully assess where the breakdown in reading occurs and provide remediation there, not in the place determined by a curriculum guide. Blevins clearly understands this concept and emphasizes it in his work.

Blevins identifies several reading intervention programs including Wilson reading, with which I am familiar. Using it as a reference, I looked at how it demonstrates good phonics instruction page number represent where in the Blevins text the component of phonics instruction is discussed.

explicit- The teacher teaches letter names, the sounds each letter stands for and reviews it. teaches blending sounds. provides opportunities to blend unknown words in context (p. 42).

readiness skills- the system always begins with level 1 where alphabetic awareness is assessed and taught so that all letters and their most common sounds are introduced- cards are used to teach and review every day. Oral blending and segmentation are taught- cards are used to teach blending and segmentation as is the motor skill of tapping. Blank cards are used to teach relating sounds to graphemes. (p. 47-9)
scope and sequence- the system is composed of 12 steps ranging from simple CVC words to multisyllabic CVC words, through the other syllable types and it includes both exceptions (ex. English words do not end in v, we add an e to the end of the word) and covers rimes and analogy instruction throughout (ex. early word families of -an and later -tion and -sion) (p. 47).

blending- Wilson uses finger tapping to represent blended sounds and to assist with counting sounds. It uses card manipulation and pointing to demonstrate blending. Blending is taught from the very beginning of the program. (p. 47)

dictation- Each Wilson lesson moves from decoding to encoding. The teaching element of the encoding portion of the lesson includes manipulating cards or magnetic letters or writing on a whiteboard to compose dictated words which are then “scooped” to demonstrate syllabication.  Dictation is one element of this as well. Students must write dictated sounds, words and then sentences. (p. 47)

word awareness- opportunities to play with words and combining word parts. Word sorts and studies are one of the 10 parts of a Wilson lesson. Wilson has students read nonsenses syllables that are later used in words. Word cards are used. They can be read and then various word sorts and games can be engaged in. Students are asked to read and write (or build with cards) words and word parts. Students engage in both reading(decoding) and writing (encoding) with the letter/digraph/morpheme cards (p. 47).

High Frequency words- Wilson has a sight word list to teach and reinforces their use through sentence and passage reading as well as dictation activities. (p. 47)

Reading connected text- Wilson has reading passages that include both high frequency words, words taught at earlier steps and novel words displaying patterns currently being taught. The controlled nature of the text means that students are not expected to read spelling/phonetic patterns they have not been taught. In fact the author of Wilson concurs with Blevins in that readers should not be asked to independently reading material beyond their independent reading level- more complex content and vocabulary can and should be introduced through listening comprehension activities. This helps develop skill in reading in general. (p. 48, 331-2)

Wilson clearly demonstrates the characteristics of a high quality, phonics intervention and is appropriate for students with phonics weaknesses.

One item that Blevins spends some time at the end of his text focusing on is reading high interest text. He quotes studies that say that the average middle schooler reads 1,000,000 words a year while the struggling one reads 10,000; good first grade readers read 1900 words a week whereas struggling readers only read 16 (p. 332). When you think about what the word deficit is, there is no wonder that students who struggle to read often have poor vocabularies. My daughter, who is a voracious high ability reader, was reading close to 10,000,000 words a year in middle school, a level she tries hard to maintain in light of her work schedule and reading light school assignments. Her junior classmates who are struggling readers cannot hope to have her vocabulary or background knowledge. Our students need access to books they are interested in at their reading level. All too often we give students reading material that does not interest them. We need to work hard to find reading material that engages them. Hi-lo publishers and librarians can be immeasurably useful in this activity. Kids need to read and be read to in order to increase their background knowledge and vocabulary. This is critical to improving their reading comprehension. We need them to read. Anything that engages them. Everything that engages them.

Teaching phonics- word study

When I first heard of word study I was uncertain what on earth people were talking about. I gradually created an understanding of word study. Wiley Blevins's book Teaching Phonics & Word Study in the Intermediate Grades includes a quote from Moats (2000) that "word study refers to the process of learning words, including their spelling, meaning, pronunciation, historical origin, and relationship with other words" (p. 241). When reading teachers talk about word study they often do not mean the entire spectrum of features. Mostly they refer to pronunciation and meaning.

Blevins's includes some general guidelines for word study (p. 239-40):

• Introduce or reinforce the concept that words can be made up of several elements- this includes affixes, compound words and roots.
• Be sure your instruction is explicit- Madeline Hunter rears up again. Direct instruction is the most effective and efficient way to deliver instruction. This is not the place for inquiry learning. Teach the elements of word analysis. Teach how to discover the meaning of the words. Teach how to use the word. Learning words may take a bright student only a couple of exposures, but some students with disabilities might need as many as 100 exposures to the word or root. Teach- review- review. For students with disabilities prioritize the word study to the most common and useful elements.
• During instruction, rely more on concrete, known examples rather than abstract rules, principles or definitions.- Teach the relationship between the word's structure and the role in the sentence. Evaporation- includes -tion which means an act or process. Evaporation is the act or process of evaporating. See it. Highlight it. I worked with a teacher who assigned a vocabulary exercise of locating the vocabulary word in the text and define it. If it was a nomination, they were expected to be able to change the definition to the noun form of an act or process of whatever. If it had an -ly ending, they were supposed to know that it was a characteristic of whatever. The problem is that she never taught how the suffixes did this work. A great beginning if the rule had been taught and a resource, like an anchor chart or sheet of how suffixes change words, were available.
• Alert students to the diversity of English words- English comes from many places- mostly Latin, Greek or Anglo-Saxon origins. Latin and Greek roots are combined to form larger words often found in social studies and science. There is overlap and some words are from other sources as well. English has more words than any other language. This makes English very complicated to learn, but since about 60% of English is derived from Latin or Greek, it makes understanding high frequency roots important.
• Be sure students are aware of the limitations of structural analysis- not all word parts are discrete roots- under is not a combination of in- and -der.  
• Apply, apply, apply. They need to practice the activity repeatedly. This is not limited to any grade or subject. It needs to be done across the curriculum and over the entire spectrum of years.

Photosynthesis is a term introduced in elementary school, and reinforced and expanded upon in middle school and high school. Students can learn about the roots- photo means light, synthesis means putting together. These two roots can be used to understand many other words. From a word study standpoint activities like the one below can be completed by small groups to examine the concept. From a phonics standpoint, reading photo- as a unit becomes a method for reading other words with the root more quickly. It becomes like a sight word making the word, and others using the root, easier to read. Engaging in the activities in the boxes allows students to study the word- photosynthesis, but it also allows for learning about related words as well.

What does photo- mean?	What other words do you know with the root photo-? What does each word have to do with light?
How does photosynthesis showcase the meaning of the root?	Describe the process of photosynthesis.

This represents a word study that could be continued as students learn words like photogenic, photon, and phototropism. Knowing that they all have to do with light means it is easier to learn their specific meaning, pronunciation and spelling.

Throughout the section on word study children's books are suggested to demonstrate concepts. Secondary students can benefit from children's books if they are introduced carefully.  Blevins also includes worksheets to use almost as a graphic organizer to complete word studies.

This book is an amazing presentation on how to utilize phonics instruction at the intermediate level. Many of his guidelines are equally valid for older students with disabilities as well. I look forward to the rest of the book.

Vacationing beyond your capability

Years ago my son was in a study and I had to fill out a questionnaire about how he impacted our lives. Initially I said he did not prevent us from doing the things we wanted to do. Then I went home and thought about it. He controls what we do. We craft our existence around him. We do not go out to dinner or entertainment as a family. We rarely have people over. We stick to a routine that is crazy strict and have pushed that on our extended families when they interact. Carefully selecting battles becomes essential.

When you have a child who thrives on consistency and routine, vacations are problematic. By their very nature they are not routine or consistent. We spent many years with our vacation bet being how long it would be before a public meltdown. We have had tantrums in any number of places. The best ones do not involve me holding him so he cannot run off through glass and traffic. The meltdown becomes an expectation. The first time we had a vacation without a meltdown, he was in high school. We celebrated.

As a teacher, this path of being a parent of a child on the spectrum has been eye opening. I have mentioned hating vacations to my peers who look at me like I am crazy. Surely I enjoy the time off and away. No, my circumstances have made it extra work. I spent his entire elementary years planning each vacation day- two activities a day. We had a calendar of events and we stuck to it. Schedules were put together ahead of time and explained. Yes, we did lots of crafts. We spent an hour at the museum and drove home. Sometimes we would return in two days to spend an hour doing the same things again. We went to the grocery store with a behavior plan for behaving appropriately. When he was at school, this was his teacher's job. At home, it is mine.

My husband and I came to the conclusion that our vacation hell was partly our fault. We were vacationing beyond his capability.  It frustrated us that every piece of the vacation had to have a plan for him. I'll take one, he'll take the other kid and we each do something specially chosen for the child. We traded off so that the drain of constantly being on edge and planning for contingencies and managing behavior did not wear too heavy. And so that my daughter had the opportunity to do some of the things she wanted to so. Flying meant trading off- the puker- my daughter gets air sick and has used the air sickness bag and my body several times- or the behavior- entertain for the entire trip with a schedule of activities. We had to plan lots of down time because he needs it. We could not have any outing take more than an hour and a half or there would be hell to pay as he reached his limits.

Many comedians have bits about needing a vacation to recover from vacation. I suspect that is true for all parents. It is especially true for parents of children with ASD. It makes me say that a work day is less work than a weekend or vacation day. As teachers we tend to dismiss, or at least not think too much about, the challenges our parents have with their children. We think everyone must relish vacation. So not true.

Personally we have resolved to pay more attention to him in our vacation planning. That means he does not get to go on every trip we take. He can stay home with his amazing grandparents. (I am, without a doubt, hugely blessed to be have family that gets him. So many families of children on the spectrum do not.) Or one of us can stay home with him. It means when he goes on vacation, we can tailor it to him without feeling cheated. Shorter trips, private space, and informal meals become a must with him.

Walking in my shoes has taught me the wisdom of trying to understand the shoes of other parents.