Jonathan Lyons with an eye patch sword and toucan.

Detour to Eye Surgery

The weekend passed without incident. I was bored nearly to tears, except for the abject fear of impending eye surgery. I spent most of Saturday on the first weekend of June 2016, asleep because of my late visit to the hospital. Sunday, I sat around the house, afraid to overexert, as if my sacrificed time could somehow save my travel plans. Barbara drove me to the doctor’s office on Monday

Merit Badges

The Last Normal Summer

Our last normal summer break, careened from problem to problem. Boy Scouts spend most of the year working on service projects and leadership skills. Summertime brings scout camp, where scouts earn most of their merit badges. A scout needs to earn at least 21 merit badges to reach the rank of Eagle. Eleven of those come from a list of required badges. The remaining badges are elective badges that teach

Individualized Education Plan

Making the IEP

Avner had missed the opportunity to register for high school classes. We had been adamant about connecting with the high school for a hand-off meeting from middle school, to cover his IEP. Avner was entering high school a year younger than most high schoolers, and had some academic hurdles due to his ADHD and Autism diagnoses. There was this other thing with his behavior, but we expected life to improve