The telephone and it’s use has been a difficult concept for DC. He uses it when he is supposed to or when someone tells him to. He does not understand voicemail or when he dials a wrong number (whatever he was going to say to me is said to whoever might answer the phone). Usually his conversation is scripted. I want him to think to use it on his own. If something should happen, I want him to think to use the phone to call me.

This morning he did. He called me from his transportation on his way to work to apologize for “hurting my feelings”. I am sure he really does not understand how he hurt my feelings, but that is a battle that may never be won.

But for today….. he used the phone spontaneously and that is progress!

To read more about our ongoing adventures with the telephone, read some (or all; but I’m not going to be pushy) of the posts below:

Don’t Forget to Call Mom – April 2014

There are many times, even at this point that I really do not know if DC really understands certain things or if he is just going through the motions; the motions that were taught to him. There are other times that I am surprised to find that he really does understand, even if he is using one of his scripts to communicate it. It is not always easy to tell the difference. I don’t think it will ever be easy, but I do not think that using the telephone will ever be one of those things he completely understands. (Continue)

Hey! That’s not in the script! – June 2015

About a year or so ago, I wrote a post about the difficulty DC has with using the telephone (Don’t forget to call Mom). We haven’t made all that much progress since that post but we continue to work at it. As I said in that post, he does know how to use the telephone, but he only uses it when he is told to. It is never spontaneous. Most of his calls are to me, to tell me he is leaving work and again to tell me that he is home. (Continue)

Special Delivery and throwing a wrench in the routine – August 2016

(A little bit more than just the phone)

One of DC’s IP (no “E”- he is out of school) goals is for his staff to work with him on being home alone for small amounts of time. Anyone that knows me, knows that I am not comfortable with this at all but as he moved through middle school and high school his dismissal time got earlier and earlier. As he got older there were less to almost no options for after school care. He is verbal but does not communicate well so hiring and trusting a stranger was not an option and I was running out of people I knew to hire.  (Continue)

The Phone and The Routine – June 2017

Memories of the New Phone

Did not think that this would go well in any way, shape or form. I started him out with a Tracfone because I was sure he would lose it or break it…. Once again, he surprised me. He did not lose it, he did not break it and he remembered to take it with him every day (in his pocket – I might add. He hates to have anything in his pockets!) (Continue)

Hello???? I hear you and it is still November. – November 2017

For some reason, I seem to be convinced that this week is not the end of November but the first week of December. I don’t know why but I have to keep reminding myself that there is still a few days left before the first full week of December.  (Continue)

****

Excerpt from:

10 things I hate today – April 2017 –

– which is not entirely about the telephone but the telemarketers that are now confusing my child and his progress in understanding and using the phone. They are also hampering my ability to have him use his phone for safety reasons. Who do you talk to when it gets so bad that you have to put your child’s phone on Do Not Disturb? The phone that I hope he will use if he is in trouble or needs help? The phone that I need to be able to contact him on from any number I need to contact him from? Who do I talk to?

The worst thing about these telemarketers is that they call my son’s phone a good twenty times a day (no exaggeration). He barely understands how to use the phone and these people are just proving to confuse him. He gets so many calls and texts that I am sure that his number was on a list that was sold by our provider to these companies. I had to put his phone on Do Not Disturb, which was the last thing I wanted to do because I want to be able to reach him when I need to. There is a setting to allow calls from the people in his contact list but what if something happened and I had to call him from another phone or something? Why does something as simple as a telephone have to be this difficult for him? 

****

The Little Things That Aren’t So Little – May 2019

I know I have said in one post or another that there is always progress. Maybe not the progress he made when he was younger, but there is always something. It may be just a little thing but it is always cause for celebration. (Continue)

****

Spontaneous Phone Use…. November 2019

I wrote a post a little while back about DC using the phone spontaneously.
He had done it once before; one time that I was sure it was a spontaneous call.
There have been a few others, but they were years apart and I was never really sure that it was entirely his idea to call me. (Continue)

****

The Phone, Mustaches and Bandaids – This Week – December 6, 2019

We have had quite a busy week here in DC-land.
Lots of stuff to do, some weather and a complete change in his regularity scheduled activities.
Between some of the fun (and angst), there was some progress and a few Ah Ha Moments! (Continue)