In January of 2016, Avner began to change. He became secretive and withdrawn. He was very irritable. Suddenly, he went from struggling with English to struggling in most classes. We worried. We also assumed the cause was puberty.
April 20, 2020 I’m doing something different today. I’m writing as Avner takes his guitar class in the next room. I’m also writing about today, not the events that brought us to today. We are all sheltered in place. The self imposed isolation affects us all differently in interesting ways. We’re all a little less productive. I’m definitely feeling stir crazy and Barbara is feeling stressed for any number of
Avner faced a number of challenges in school. By the time that we finally secured his individualized education plan, more commonly known as an IEP, he was in third grade. Avner received a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Asperger’s Syndrome, now classified under the larger umbrella of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). He was classified as twice exceptional, meaning that he also tests with a gifted IQ. Some
July 2016: Finally, a couple very eventful weeks after my retina tore in the ER, the boys left for St Thomas. For two brothers in our scout troop, it would be the crowning adventure of their time in Boy Scouts. Brandon, the older brother had aged out of the program. Dylan would age out the following year. Both brothers were athletic and aspired to military careers. Brandon, was the less