Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Rolling Along

Summer has consisted of increasingly successful driving lessons and late nights. Last Friday after Frisbee, my son texted that he was going out for ice cream with some of the players. Little things mean a lot.

He is not without his stress though. He is anxious for school to start in the fall for the (not so) simple reason that he feels that there are so many loose threads in that part of his life. He is overflowing with “What ifs.”

What if I don’t like the communications course?

What if I like them but they won’t let me change majors?

What if I don’t like the major?

What if I don’t make the Ultimate Frisbee team?

What if I don’t get along with my new roommate?

What if I can’t decide what I want to do with my life after college?

All I can do is remind him how well he managed in his first year and how much he has achieved over the past twelve months. I am hesitant to hang too much emphasis on his social activities this summer – which is apparently no big deal to my son!

There is more to the final question than would appear at first blush. The fact that he was not able to get a paying job weighs heavily on him. He was very disappointed that the connection to the Best Buddies organization proved to be fruitless when they were overwhelmed with requests from clients with more debilitating problems. On the one hand, it’s encouraging that my son is much better equipped to succeed on his own; on the other, his Nonverbal Learning Disability is a real impediment to learning those basic “how do I apply for a job’ skills, even before the “how do I get and hold a job” skills.

At the end of the summer, he will meet with a social services provider and we hope that this connection will address some of those concerns.

In the meantime, he drives…he goes out…he conquers!