took your advice .....

[buddy]

From last year when I was trying to decide if I could get q a phone....he wants one so badly. But last year he was so unstable. He is doing better and still desperately wants a phone.

So I decided he has to learn sometime. I took your collective advice and got a $9 tracphone and it was on special with a double minutes for the life of the phone deal, so I bought 60minutes (so 120). and it can last for three months until we need to add. He really has no one to call but me so I know he won't use up many minutes. My sisters will help him practice making and receiving calls by suggesting he call to say hi etc. The phone allows texting but I doubt he will. No camera and no internet on this phone and I bought a card so no credit card for him to easily add minutes.

I am writing a simple directions sheet for getting more minutes. He will have three jobs he has to do per week to get the money which will be in an envelope for when its time to go buy a new card.

That's my gift to him this year (and some socks and undies and a cool NASCAR book) and Santa is bringing a camera thanks to a friend. He should be pretty darn excited.

 

[Calamity Jane]

Oh Buddy, that really sounds great - Q is going to be so happy! It was worth waiting for and I like the fact that he is going to work and save up some money for when he needs a new card.

 

[TerryJ2]

Gosh--he will be thrilled! The instruction sheet and chores are a great idea.

 

[Confused]

Congrats Buddy! Im glad he is doing better now, and will be happy to see that phone

 

[TeDo]

Yeah!!!! You can have him add me to his contacts but please make sure you check to see if I'm working before he calls. I am so proud of him for how far he's come. Isn't it wonderful that he's reached this point? A Tracfone is what my kids started with. And if it doesn't work out, no contracts to worry about. Way to go MOM!!!

 

[Hopeless]

He is going to be so excited.

 

[DDD]

You are doing an awesome job of parenting. Hugs DDD

 

[buddy]

Thank you everyone. It would seem like a little thing in the real world but you all know this has been a three year issue for us. Sadly it is one of the biggest things to him that has made him feel different. But he just had zero self control whenever he got ahold of my phone. Calling numbers he saw on TV ordering free catalogs....which then left me getting tons of car part sales calls, sigh. And hed go thru the call log and contacts and call people over and over and over.....
That has not happened for over a year. He has called people and me with no problem except when demanding I run something to school. But he has learned now this school is too far for me to run shoes to him! LOL

 

[SuZir]

So happy to hear this. I truly hope Q is going to be thrilled and that phone will not in any way turn a disappointment for him. He so much deserves something to go just like he hoped. So do you. Being able to feel normal and like the others is such a huge thing especially for those with special needs. I just had a discussion about that with my difficult child when he told me more about that ill-fated fan Xmas party. He wondered why these events, and also games, always have so high count of disabled people present, especially younger disabled men. I told him that I think it is about feeling of normalcy. That these people have likely always been in special schools or classes mostly, if they work, it is not same type of work most of their peers do. While they may live on their own, it is not same way on their own as their peers but with supports. Being a sport fan is one of the things they can do just like everyone else. It is normal for young man to be sport enthusiastic and in sport stands they are in equal footing. While they may not be able to relate a lot of their typical peers' talk about school, work, girls etc. about sports they can talk like anyone else and not to feel so different.

I so much hope that phone gives Q more a feeling of being like his peers. From all the board kids Q is the one who warms my heart the most. That is likely because in some ways what you tell about him often reminds me so much of my difficult child. Even though their life situations and functioning levels are different, I see so much similarities on them.

 

[DammitJanet]

Does he get free nights and weekends too? If not, then maybe if this works out well you could look into a different one after a while. There is a really good one for kids which I would consider him with his issues. Right now I would have to think of the name but you can turn it on and off at will like during school hours and after bedtime. Also you can track him with gps. It would look much more like a regular phone with games and music on it. I know if Susie sees this she will give the name...lol. I just have a hard time remembering names this early in the morning. Most likely if you google kids cell phones the name will come up.

 

[buddy]

Suz, that is exactly how I feel about q and his sports obsessions. He follows statistics a lot. But he can have a typical conversation with so many people over sports. Its almost always pretty concrete so he can actually have back and forth, on topic interactions.