Half Of An Idea

I hate summers.  Not for me, but for Ryan.  Prior to every summer we search, research, plan, and scheme for a way for Ryan to fill his days.  Most of Ryan's summer breaks from school have been pitifully empty.  Boy, does he miss school.  Sure, he misses his friends, but he also misses the routine.  We think he needs the routine.  Oh, if you have forgotten who "we" is, check No Regrets above.

Ryan wakes every morning to an alarm clock.  If we happen to look in on him he will respond by asking, "What's today?"  There was a time when I would answer; day, date, schedule, plans.  I had always assumed that he was asking because he didn't know.  Buzz.  Wrong answer. No prize for you. Ryan was just launching the conversation; and if I just paused, he would tell me what the day was all about.  Easy for him to do during the school year because our lives are on the big ugly dry erase calendar in the next room and Ryan knew exactly what was next. 

But, during the summer, with nothing much going on, he loses track of time and goes in default mode.  Not good.  Really not good.  Default mode is TV.  So, each year we try to package a few weeks of something other than nothing.  Maybe a family vacation, or a bit of day camp, or  a trip to see his sister and brother-in-law in the Big Apple.  Yep, he flies by himself.  But, we never completely filled his summer; at least until 3 years ago.  That is when we found a camp in PA that was perfect for teenagers with DS. It cost as much as a semester of college, but for two years running,  Ryan spent 7 weeks of his summer away from home.  His concept of independence grew by leaps and bounds, but after two years it was time to do something that was more about responsibility and less about fun.  Time to grow up.

So, I had half of an idea.  Maybe he could fill his summer with work like a typical teenager.  He already had the job at Olive Garden.... hmm... how about  picking up a second job.  Not a paying job, but a volunteer job.  Time for more research.  My notion that this would be easy got knocked in the head posthaste.  All I wanted was a handy-dandy non-profit/hospital/something to give Ryan a place to work for the summer.  What I found was  plenty of opportunities to volunteer, but no ready-made place for Ryan.  It might be do-able, but it would take longer the one summer to make it happen.

But, through my phone calls I met a  state contact for the Council on Developmental Disabilities.  He was packaging the annual Youth Leadership Forum;  a conference for high school delegates with disabilities held on Vanderbilt's campus.  Ryan applied and was accepted as a delegate.  He thought he was the BMOC as I dropped him off for a week in the Vandy dorms.  We didn't fill his summer, but he latched onto the notion of self-advocacy like never before.  My half of an idea turned out not half bad.