|
Adventures! Mom & Dad were busy this past winter. They built a cottage with wood from this old barn. Isaac helped a lot. They own a company called the Little Village Makers- For about 4 years they have been working on building a village– just when it was about to happen the housing market crashed and the economy started swimming in the potty. In times like these it would be nice to live in a village like Simpler Times (www.ruralvillage.org). But we are stuck in Fortville. Mom and Dad have changed their focus, we are going to make the best of what we have. They have big ideas about applying their dreams and ideas for a village to making Fortville, Indiana a vibrant and sustainable town. A lot of people will need to work together but It can be done! Fortville was founded in the 1800’s and has lots of character & potential.
Take a look at the photos below to see the cottage our parents built with a bunch of other people who all pitched in. The cottage was a big exhibit at the Indianapolis Home Show in January of 2008. |
|
A Barn Built in the 1860’s became a timber frame cottage! We are not sure why we built it, we just did. It was fun. |
|
Building The Tulip Garden Cottage 2008 Mom, Dad, friends and many local businesses took down a Barn and Built a Cottage...
|
|
Our parents have been married for 10 years and love each other very, very much!
They met when they were 13 & 14 and have been sharing big dreams and big adventures ever since. They love God, they love their children and they have lots of big ideas. |
|
Josh & Sarah in Italy 2004 Life is always an adventure at our house! ! |
|
Josh is a pilot, musician, Indiana state delegate, owns “Need –A-Nerd?” Computer Service, is trying to build a village, and loves his wife, kids and goats. Sarah loves being a mommy, she’s an artist and has a passion for neighborhood revitalization and village making, she also has Asperger’s Syndrome. The are both excited about the opportunity to be Fortville Area Coordinators for Faith, Hope & Love , this summer, they hope to focus on building fruit, flower and veggies gardens for those in need and they will work with teams to improve beautify the neighborhoods. Visit www.FHLinternational.org And www.RuralVillage.org
|
|
Busy Parents |
|
Growing up with Asperger’s Syndrome Sarah Brown
Should we insist that all birds swim, because the penguins do? Should we demand that a fish learn to fly, or try desperately to turn the green eyes to blue? And if each child has a special calling, and a purpose to fulfill, should every child learn the same information by the same method? Should we all excel at math instead of poetry? If music comes so naturally, should we set the gift aside, to drill our children on their spelling, and make them want to hide.
If you son wants to read dictionaries, encyclopedias and a learn foreign language- should we all demand that he focuses instead on being more social? If a daughter wants to build cities in the sand should we insist that she play in the water? If a student wants so much to stay home where life is familiar, are we really helping him by sending him out the door? I wonder.
Should we be so focused on a fixing a child’s weaknesses to the exclusion of their strengths, interests and gifts in order to normalize them? Should we force an active and curious child to become calm and listless for the convenience of the adults in her life?
When a child shows characteristics such as ADHD, Asperger’s Syndrome (like me), Autism, or Dyslexia- should we mourn over a “disorder” and completely miss the gift that comes with the diagnosis?
When I was a little girl struggling with the demands of public school, no one had a name for my “disorder”. (I’ll be the first to say this isn’t really a disorder, just a different style of brain, much needed in this world) Well, they were mystified, I could amaze the other children with my unusual skills, and then I would disappear. I would fail to do most of my assignments, and yet ace almost all of the tests. I was the daydreamer, the loner, and I didn’t even care if my socks were the same color. I questioned math facts, I challenged phonics, and I set a few records in PE- yet was always the last to be chosen for the teams, and even failed 3rd grade.
Most of the people in my life, besides my parents, wanted me to change, and be like the rest of the kids. But I would just gaze out the windows, I doodled all over my papers, and barely spoke a word to anyone. I felt trapped in my desk, and the walls were like a cage. I was meant to be free. I would stare at the animals in my text books and feel emptiness in my heart because I could not stroke their fur, watch them move, and hear them call to one another. Was this educations, how can a student learn about nature from a book? I wondered. The books seemed so dull compared to real life and real nature.
The teachers were always determining what I should learn, when I should learn it, and how long I could focus on each topic. I had no control, and no one seemed to have time for the things I wanted to learn about. I was confused about the way all the other children seemed to go with the flow, while I felt like the teacher wasn’t even speaking English.
And besides all that I had to wears clothes I didn’t like, eat yucky and weird food, walk through scary hall ways, and I had to leave my favorite monkey at home. The classroom was too big and too small all at once, and I felt to smart and to dumb at the same time…until 5th grade.
My 5th grade teacher saw a gift in me, or maybe she gave a gift to me. Her name was Mrs. Sally Abney, and she made me look forward to Monday mornings. I looked forward to how she would start the day by putting a “mind teaser puzzle” on the chalk board, and every morning I was usually the first child to solve the puzzle. Next we would have a half hour to write stories in our journals, we could write about anything! Occasionally we had an assignment, like “Describe the house you want to live in when you grow up.” That was fun. And once a month each child would have lunch with the teacher, and share a favorite entry. We children would be able to choose topics that we wanted to write reports about, and I remember being free to study my favorite kinds of dogs, outer space and art. And Mrs. Abney didn’t keep art in art class, she made art part of our everyday activities, and when the janitor was sick, she let me design a get well card that all the kids could sign.
She was always finding reasons for me to do art projects during regular school hours. She called my spelling “creative” and she read “The Chronicles of Narnia” to the class right after lunch, everyday, I could lose myself in an imaginary world, without even needing to day dream. She told us how she didn’t personally believe in evolution, and she did believe in heaven- but that’s all she said, and I thought she was brave for speaking up. She told us stories about her son’s adventures at space camp, and she brought shark meat to school one day so we could all try it if we wanted to, while we were learning about the ocean. I think she sometimes even played music during class. And in Mrs. Abney’s class there was always a reason to have a celebration, and she always had a reason to smile, and she always had time to answer questions one-on-one.
She knew I was different, but she gave me a chance to grow in my gifts and to focus on my strengths. In her class I didn’t feel stupid, lost or weird, I felt valued and understood. She set me free to be me. I’ve been flying ever since.
I didn’t begin to thrive in this world because a teacher helped me to become like everyone else, she didn’t try to normalize me, and I still got “D’s” in spelling. But when she reviewed my report card she pointed out my “A’s” in art, math and science. She let me know that people who are extremely gifted in some subjects have trouble with other subjects, and that’s ok.
When I finished 5th grade I had one thing figured out for sure: I wanted to be like Mrs. Abney. I wanted to grow up and help children to find their gifts, live their dreams and be who they were meant to be. I wanted to overlook the weaknesses of others and help them to see the power and beauty of their strengths.
And do you know what I think, if there were more teachers and parents like Mrs. Abney there would be less children diagnosed with ADHD, Asperger’s Syndrome and other “Disorders” that define the uniqueness of people like me.
Aspie LINKS: Great Books on Asperger’s Syndrome Asperger’s Syndrome in the Family
|
|
Gov Sarah Palin with Baby Laura Brown (Josh and Sarah Brown’s six month old) at the Indy Rally 10/17/08 |
