Tag Archives: Super Mario Brothers

My Son’s Interview with Mario & Luigi

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Boy has it been a fun week at our house! I did an awesome project with my son and he really pulled it off beautifully! I’m so proud of him.

When I was a child I had to very creatively keep myself entertained. One of the things I remember doing was an interview with The Monkees: I taped myself asking clever questions and used snippets of their songs as the interview answers. Yeah, pretty dorky – I know!

I introduced this concept to my son and together we came up with funny questions for Mario and his brother Luigi. We used sound files from the actual video games as the answers.

Another one of the amazing gains I’ve witnessed in Justin since the start of his Listening Training is his ability to use inflections in his speech. Prior to this his voice was monotone and robotic, showing no differentiation between excitement or drudgery. He did such a good job, I just HAD to share it!

So without further ado… here is Justin interviewing Mario and Luigi:

MarioInterview

In Other News…

My daughter turned 13! In her spirited uniqueness, we came up with a really fun party for her and her closest friends.

The theme was wolves… complete with “goth” photo shoot against a wolf paw backdrop. Then everyone was required to check their reservations at the door as we performed our own version of “Whose Line is it Anyway” (comedy improv show). It was hands-down the most creative party I’ve hosted to date. Here’s the cake I made:

We enjoyed the improv games so much that we decided to turn them into twice monthly gatherings with her friends! I’m really looking forward to coordinating it!! Finally, my 3 years in Drama class being put to use :)

This week’s lesson:

I learned that quality time with my children doesn’t have to cost anything more than my time and some creative ideas. How about you? What fun things have you done with your kiddos? Let me know by commenting below, or post your thoughts on Facebook or Twitter!

An Older Sister’s View

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Ever wonder what it’s like to be an older sister or brother of an Autistic child? Here is one informative viewpoint, provided by my daughter Dorian.

Debi: Dorian, many of us know that having a little brother in general can be frustrating at times! But what kind of unique challenges come into play with Autism?

Dorian: There are a lot of challenges when dealing with an Autistic sibling. For instance, he screams a lot. And many times we can’t go out to restaurants or stores if he’s acting up; or we end up having to leave before we’re done. And, another thing, he’s obsessed with Super Mario Brothers characters. He talks NONSTOP about them. Talk about a headache.

Debi: Sounds like it can get taxing at times! What about some of the positive things about your brother?

Dorian: There are also some good things. For instance, he remembers street names or names of people when I can’t. He’s really good with details. So that comes in handy. Also, with me being terrified of spiders (especially the giant ones), he’s always up to killing one for me. He likes jobs.

Debi: What kinds of things about Autism do you think make it really hard for Justin?

Dorian: Certain things are hard to understand about him. He screams because he hears things REALLY loud. And when he hits, kicks, and punches me, he doesn’t mean to, which I don’t always understand but try to…

Debi: Yes, it’s definitely hard to understand what his world is like sometimes! What types of things do you think you do well, or find easy when dealing with him?

Dorian: What I find easiest is, when he’s bothering me, I tell him to do another task. I even used to tell him to go find the basement, when we had no basement. That would keep him busy for a while. Another thing that works, I give him a math problem.  I also tell him to race me to somewhere if I can’t get him to get up and move. Those work best for me, at least.

Debi: Those are good ideas. I know this is a hard question, but in what ways do you think you could do a little better with your brother?

Dorian: I realize that I could kinda back down on losing my patience quickly… though that’s easier said than done. And I get that he doesn’t do most things on purpose, although some with some things the case is he’s just being an annoying little brother.

Debi: Great! Do you have any advice for other older siblings that you could share?

Dorian: Here’s my advice: Instead of yelling all the time, take a minute and think about what will help. And, don’t always expect them to act out. Sometimes when you raise your expectation and see someone in a better light they start to act that way. It’s weird how that happens.