Oh long neglected blog, I apologize for my absence. I have finally wrestled life into some kind of order and will be more attentive to you, I promise.
Josiah (on the far left), Twila (2nd from the left) and me (bet you can guess which one I am) tested for our yellow belts! The most exciting part about this is that Josiah has Autism and has a difficult time following directions and translating what he sees into what he does. In other words he can’t mimic well either. He thinks karate is hard and would rather quit but I have seen some real progress since we began. It is frustrating for him to do the movements because they force him to use his brain in ways that he isn’t accustomed to but as he does that those pathways open up for him to do other things. For instance Josiah has begun speak in complete sentences! Not all the time and not always correctly but his thoughts are more organized and he is more able to communicate them.
Our Sensei is remarkable and everyone (including the students) goes out of their way to encourage Josiah. We are so blessed to have found this school!
Did you know April is Autism Awareness Month? I encourage you to find out at least one thing about Autism! The CDC recently announced that 1 in 88 children are diagnosed with autism (that number has risen from 1 in 110)
