RPM absolutely is hope. It's hope for finding out things about Aulton's past, it's hope for the present day where we are learning so much about him and it's hope for complete communication in the future. But, RPM is not just a communication method. Aulton's confidence and assertiveness has increased. He follows complex directions with much more ease and less direction in the past. He is clearer about his opinions and has a greater tolerance for other shows, for reading and for conversation. RPM is helping Aulton with independence, which is hugely important for 12-year-old boy.
As I have explained RPM to various people over the course of the past 14 months, people are usually quite interested, especially when I explain that Aulton must have taught himself to read. He spells words independently and his thoughts are sometimes what you might expect, but more often than not, they are a complete surprise. Everyday, I'm so excited to see what he will spell because it's always interesting and gives me a glimpse into his mind, that I wouldn't otherwise know. I have decided, based on others' opinions to give you all a glimpse into his mind. He has given me permission to do this. I already text about his lesson to family members, who have said they would like to know how it's going.
I think I'm going to list the lessons, with words that Aulton has spelled (which are in caps) and if I say he said something or told me something, that means that we gave him paper choices or he indicated his thoughts in another way. I hope to post pretty regularly, so if anyone is inclined or interested, you can log on and find out what Aulton is learning and telling us.
We started home school on January 9th. I do the first lesson of the day and his aide, Courtney does the other two. Sometimes, Aulton is not up to all 3, but we all do our best. The following is an account of our lessons since we started, it is a lot. But, future posts about RPM will not be as long.
- Cloud formations and nimbus clouds. We talked about how people often look for shapes in clouds and I asked if he had ever done that. He said yes and I asked what he had seen - HOVER TURTLE
- Picasso and Cubism. I asked his opinion on these paintings - SISSY
- I read a story to him called "Yummers" about a pig and a turtle. The pig eats a ton of food and wonders why she doesn't feel good. He said he liked the book and I asked for his thoughts- WEIGHT IS MORE STORE BOUGHT (I think he was saying we determine our weight by what we buy at the store.
- Israel. Israel's main exports are flowers, avocados and oranges. I asked for him to spell anything having to do with orange - RIPE
- A poem called "The Lamb". Its about a lamb, a boy and Jesus. At the end it talks about blessings. I asked Aulton what he was most thankful for during a Thanksgiving lesson - BODY. For this lesson, I said he could spell anything about blessings - THROUGH US (obviously, he means people are blessed through our actions)
- Martin Luther King and Equality. I asked what people dream of - BREATHE AND REST. I also asked him to "vote" on his favorite season. It is Spring,
- Dead Sea. Word associated with swimming - SLOW. (I don't think of this negatively at all. I think he means swimming is relaxing).
- Trucks that haul lumber to build homes. Word associated with tree - LIMB
- Pyramids. I told him how amazing they were a bunch of time. He spelled - JUST ORDINARY (he's a little jokester)
- Palestine. He did get mad when I talked about terrorists. He asked me to QUIT. So, I did.
- Hands. He spelled CLOSE.
- NFL Protests - he said NOT RIGHT. I don't agree with him, but I love that he has his own opinion.
- Trucks - I asked what color of truck he would like. I thought I would be helpful by pointing out all the common colors and the letters they start with. So, he goes and spells TAN.
- Giant Snakes - We talked about their eyesight and asked what he likes to look at - LEMON. Which is funny, because it was the exact think I was thinking. He and I have a connection.
- Asteroids - We talked about how they collide in space, causing meteors. Something that can crash - ROCKS.
- First 5 planets - Word associated with the Sun - TIME
- Australia Day - The Outback occupies 2/3 of the country and is pretty deserted - EMPTY
- Last 4 planets - thought about space - LOTS
- Semi-trucks - what could you haul - HORSE
- RPM Workshop stuff- words associated with wealth - CHARGE, CHAT. What do wealthy people do - GAMES. "A wealthy man charged...ME" Something that floats- PET, Air- HABITAT, capitalize - TAKE ADVANTAGE, Cast- THROW, Muscles - MOM, DAD, HULK. At the end of these lessons, she wrote, "Dear World, I am ______" HOME AT LAST. I think he was saying he is feeling more comfortable in this world, where people know he is smart.
- My Grandma, for her 90th birthday - Why would someone be mean? - JEALOUS, What can you buy with money? NINE FAT RHODES ROLLS, What advice would you share with people? -FRUGAL
- Olympic origin - Sport he likes - A SHUTOUT, Sport he would like to do - THE BIKE,
- Flatbed Trucks - what can a flatbed truck carry - PLANE, word for bus - SO SLOW
- Synonyms and antonyms- I asked him to write a pair of either one. He wanted antonyms and spelled TRY and FAIL. Then, I asked what is something people try to do, but fail at. - ARGUE
- Astronomy - he would like to do more MATH, He would most like to look at SATURN through a telescope, if he could make a constellation, he would make a MONKEY.
- Ancient Olympics - a country - SPAIN, team sport he would enjoy wathcing - BASKETBALL
- Winter Sports - Ice- POLAR, Mountain - PEAK, Nursery -FARM, Something with a cycle - DAY
- Opening Ceremonies and Olympic symbols - torch - RUN, Peace - SAVE A BODY
- Valentine's Day - Love- NASTY, Valentine's Day is A KEY TO LOVE,
- Hurricanes - WATER
- Valentine's Day card to Lyla- he chose her and said she is JOYFUL, he would like to have a SNACK with her, he hoped she had a "FUN" Valentine's day and "IT SHOULD MATTER" that he is her brother.
- Hurricane Katrina - a flood might destroy FOND FEELINGS
- Rain- SNORE
- A letter to a boy willing to be his pen-pal - TRUSTWORTHY for Mike, what he wanted to tell him about - RAIN, He also spelled BOND.
- Moon- Something large - BLOB, Favorite thing to see in the night sky - STORM
- Letter to his friend Gianna (for Valentine's Day) - he said their friendship was NOBLE and that she's SO SMILEY
- Heart Shape - BABY, something with leaves - LILY, something he loves- LYLA
- 6th and final lesson on trucks - TOO MUCH
- President's Day- Aulton would GO REST if he had a day off, a president is an OWNER
- Music - Aulton's music teacher asked me to find out what kind of music he likes. We listened to lots of bands and it's pretty drum-centric, he likes songs with the GUITAR, he commented on a few songs saying NATURAL, TOO LOFTY and SNAP
- Cowboys- a state- ARIZONA, cowboys are NOT LAZY, general thought about cowboys- BORED
- Rodeos- He would like to visit THE WEST and he associates PEOPLE with the word rodeo.
- Music- we talked about the different lengths of notes and I asked what else has a different lenth - THROAT, musical notes make him think of the word LYRIC
- Shakespeare- Aulton thinks an OPAL is round like the Globe Theater and that he is TOO SY (notShakespeare)
- Immune System and infusions- sick - TEARS and TIRED, word associated with infusions -PAIN
- The Birthday Song - What he thought about his birthday, he joked that he HAD NO TOYS, When asked what he would like to own, he spelled NEED HORSE
- Tornadoes - he spelled TUNNEL to go along with funnel and when asked about tornadoes - OPINION IS QUANTITY - he could have been referring to the number of tornadoes, the number of deaths or something else about tornadoes or he could have been talking about the number of opinions he shares.
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