text:
My first ever campaign in which I played, I was 14 years old - playing Traveller 1st edition, and pre-rolled up the glorious "Uushki Mag" through the random name generator - this bitch was hard as nails, rolled up between naval military life and then mustered across to the merchant navy - she had every single goddamn skill I could ever need - Purser, shooting skills, diplomacy, heavy weapons, driving and a fair few others - she could pretty much run the ship with the exception of piloting and engineering skills.
Due to the way Traveller character gens before you play - she was also old as hell (36 to my memory, just at the cut off point where age starts to degrade skills) and had lost a leg and an eye in her service, to be replaced by EVEN BETTER CYBORG LIMBS.
She also owned a badass robotic cult, which was upgraded with military level data hacking abilities, ablative/ballistic armour under the fur and a goddamn laser IN HIS MOUTH.
Fluffy was not a bitch you messed with, especially as I played the almighty c'ptn/bitch out as the craazy cult lady from the Simpsons - incoherant muttering, random giberish, outlandish bouts of violence and the occasional exploding cult.
We rode around in the "Jessabelle" - which was a fairly standard run of the mill Far Trader -
And we rolled around the stars, the ship half-owned by one of my old navy "buddy" NPC's as we wheeled and dealled our way around trying to make a quick buck (these where the days before firefly was released, so my vision was untainted at this point) - we managed to find a ship due to crash into a gas giant and salvage it - and later rescued some local nobles from a spacestation that was in the midst of a reactor meltdown and eventually managed to make our first major haul my taking some dirt cheap hydration units for crop growing off an asteroid base that didn't need them any more and sell them for 17 times the profit to a desert world three systems away.
Eventually - she hit her most awesome moment in holding an entire asteroid full of raving mad space-cultists hostage inside their own base with nothing more than a dead asteroid, three dozen baked bean tins with the labels taken off, some flashing LED's and a lotta duct tape - convincing them that every airlock was filled with improvised explosives ready to blow everyone aboard into space unless they handed over some fairly important politicians that they had kidnapped from another nearby system - hence opening us up a few fairly tasty local trade goods and outlets to make more money.
Alas - the campaign stopped at that point - but the first Uuskii will always hold a happy memory for me.
After that - I will spoiler the tale of FRED! BARBARIAN CHILDMINDER!
The Shadowscythe wrote:Hoboy.jpeg
Here we go.
>Been forever GM for about 4 years between a Battletech campaign and a more recent Halo based campaign.
>Finally get to play D&D, after 8 years of tabletop, I have never played it.
>Instantly despise the maths/long winded char gen.
>Roll up a bog standard Human Barbarian.
>Go maundering about for a bit.
>Get hired by local Baron to rescue his son from some kinda evil wizard.
>Dare you enter my magical realm?
>Finally emerge with Barons son, no wizzard kill though.
>Kid under some type of glamour spell, sees all alignments as reversed.
>Have to hog tie and bind kid, carrying him on my shoulder
Commence dumping kid, still hog tied, face first into local river.
>Get the kid back to the castle.
>Local Baron outside castle with troops, saying castle was stormed by evil wizzard and we had to get in there and kill him by a secret entrance only the baron would know about.
>But now Fred knows about the secret entrance.
>Therefore Fred is a Baron.
<<Insert Metal Gear Solid style stealth section here>>
>Get inside the castle
>Kill some Orcs
>Kill a Troll
>So good so far
>Then one of the Orcs calls Fred an Orc
>Fred stops in his tracks.
>Fred is not an Orc, Fred is Fred, Baron Fred, Baron Fred the Barbarian childminder.
>Orc says he is not an Orc
>Fred says he is not an Orc.
>Rest of partys faces as the LOWEST IN CHAR IN THE PARTY FIGURES OUT HE IS UNDER A GLAMOUR SPELL BEFORE EVERYONE ELSE THROUGH SHEER DUMB LUCK AND FORCE OF WILL.
>Join forces with former "Orcs" that turn out to be local malitia/castle gaurds.
>Fight off Gaurds that turned out to be Orcs.
>Evil Wizzard breaks into the castle.
>Only for Fred to jump down from the battlements and stab him.
>In the Throat.
>With a Greatsword.
Exp totalled up, rewards given out - Fred blatantly stole the night.
God I wish I could play that char all the time, rather than just a one shot.
During the in-between spots I have run a battletech game, which involved some low-level mercs marauding about in the 3015 era - with not much in the way of memorable moments.
. . . And then there is my Halo based game that I have been running on and off for a few years now - notable moments include -
>Blowing off the leg of a Scarab with a warthog filled to the brim with the player parties explosives, a length of rope and a brick.
>One of the players trying to open the busted up back door of a pelican dropship IN-FLIGHT to take out the banshee fighter that was following them and fucking up their shit so he could fire a rocket launcher out of said door.
Getting ever pissed off at the door not opening he decided to finish off the job with a fucking LOTUS anti-tank mine.
As you can all tell - this blew off said door, and involved him learning how to fly, at 30,000 feet, outside of the pelican and without a parachute.
His solution? To fucking glide onto the hood of the oncoming banshee, slide to the back, and with one hand on the fuselage, unloaded a shotgun between the elites fucking legs - then pulling out said elite and flying the fucking thing down to the ground with the pelican himself.
Did I mention he was just a fucking marine? He survived a half dozen "HE SHOULD HAVE FUCKED UP BY NOW" style rolls and in the end I had to give him the feather in his cap, after all - isn't it just fucking awesome?
>The same guy again, punched out a shitting Elite in a fist fight - and not just any Elite - no no no, the ship-master of the fleet that had been invading the planet come down to lead the fucking fight himself.
>The party medic managed to scare a group of brutes into shitting themselves with the creative use of his medkit, a blowtorch, a shitload of cutlery and a hell of a lot of pop-quiz anatomy questions.
Basically - if you can find the right groups, and it will take a long damn time in some cases, you can unleash awesome onto the table . . . or maybe you fucks just need to play with me.
Because I am that damned awesome.


text:
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United States District Court, E.D. Tennessee, Chattanooga
December 29, 2017
CHRISTOPHER A. JOHNSTON, Petitioner,v.UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent.
the Court are competing motions: Petitioner seeks permission
to voluntarily dismiss his collateral challenge without
prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(2)
[Doc. 44]; and the United States asks this Court to deny and
dismiss that same collateral challenge with prejudice in
light of Beckles v. United States, 137 S.Ct. 886,
894 (2017) [Doc. 43].
filed the underlying motion to vacate, set aside, or correct
his sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 on June 2, 2016
[Doc. 39].[1] In it, he: (1) challenges his enhancement
under Section 2K2.1 of the United States Sentencing
Guidelines based on Johnson v. United States, 135
S.Ct. 2551 (2015), which held that the residual provision of
the Armed Career Criminal Act ("ACCA"), 18 U.S.C.
§ 924(e), was unconstitutionally vague [Id.
(suggesting that his sentence is no longer valid because the
Guidelines residual provision is equally
vague)].[2] The United States responded in opposition
[Doc. 42]; Petitioner did not reply. E.D. Tenn. L.R. 7.1,
March 6, 2017, the Supreme Court held in Beckles
that the United States Sentencing Guidelines are "not
amenable to vagueness challenges." 137 S.Ct. at 894.
Shortly thereafter, this Court received the instant motions
for dismissal with and without prejudice [Docs. 43, 44, 45].
Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(i) provides that a movant
may voluntarily dismiss an action without a court order by
filing "a notice of dismissal before the opposing party
serves either an answer or a motion for summary
judgment[.]" Subsection (B) states the following:
Unless the notice of dismissal or stipulation states
otherwise, the dismissal is without prejudice. But if the
plaintiff previously dismissed any federal-or state-court
action based on or including the same claim, a notice of
dismissal operates as an adjudication on the merits.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(B). By contrast, Federal Rule of
Civil Procedure 41(a)(2) provides that "[e]xcept as
provided in Rule 41(a)(1), an action may be dismissed at the
plaintiff's request only by court order, on terms that
the court considers proper." Because the United States
responded in opposition to the § 2255 motion [Doc. 42],
and because that response addressed the merits of the
petition, Petitioner's ability to voluntarily dismiss the
instant action depends on Rule 41(a)(2).
to grant voluntary dismissal under Rule 41(a)(2) is within
the sound discretion of the district court. Grover by
Grover v. Eli Lilly and Co., 33 F.3d 716, 718 (6th Cir.
1994). An abuse of discretion exists "only where the
[non-movant] would suffer 'plain legal prejudice'
as a result of a dismissal without prejudice, as opposed to
facing the mere prospect of a second lawsuit."
Id. (quoting Cone v. West Virginia Pulp &
Paper Co., 330 U.S. 212, 217 (1947)). In determining
whether the non-movant will suffer "plain legal
prejudice, " the district court should consider the
following: "the [non-movant's] effort and expense
of preparation for trial, excessive delay and lack of
diligence on the part of the plaintiff in prosecuting the
action, insufficient explanation for the need to take a
dismissal, and whether a motion for summary judgment has been
filed by the defendant." Id. (citing
Kovalic v. DEC Int'l, Inc., 855 F.2d 471, 474
(7th Cir. 1988)). It is not necessary that every factor be
resolved in favor of the moving party for dismissal to be
appropriate. The factors only serve as a guide for the
district court's consideration in making its
determination. See Rast v. City of Pigeon Forge, No.
3:10-cv-52, 2011 WL 884941, at *3 (E.D. Tenn. Mar. 11, 2011)
(quoting Rosenthal v. Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc.,
217 F. App'x 498, 502 (6th Cir. 2007)).
cites the following in support of voluntary dismissal: (1)
the petition contained a legitimate and meritorious legal
challenge when filed but was later rendered non-meritorious
by Beckles; (2) the United States expended little
effort and expense in filing the response by using the same
form motion in numerous Johnson cases; and (3) there
was no lack of diligence or excessive delay on the part of
Petitioner in requesting dismissal [Doc. 44]. The United
States responded by challenging the first and second
assertions, but not the third [Doc. 45].
considering the parties' arguments and evaluating the
instant case in light of the Grover factors, this
Court does not believe that dismissal without prejudice would
be appropriate.
the United States expended significant effort in responding
to the petition. Cf. Rule 5 Governing Section 2255
Proceedings (explaining that the United States is not
required to respond to a § 2255 motion unless ordered to
do so by the district court). In addition to conducting an
individualized evaluation of Petitioner's case, the
United States researched and briefed several complex legal
issues, including constitutional vagueness and retroactivity.
The fact that it used similar or identical analysis in other
Johnson-based post-conviction challenges does not
change the fact that the instant motion for relief resulted
in, or at least contributed to, a significant expenditure of
time and resources.
allowing voluntary dismissal without prejudice at this stage
of the proceeding, i.e., after the United States
responded to the merits of the petition, could result in
widespread abuse and significant prejudice to the United
States. Under the "Antiterrorism and Effective Death
Penalty Act of 1996, " petitioners cannot file a second
or successive § 2255 petition in the district court
until they move in the United States Court of Appeals for an
order authorizing the district court to consider that motion.
See Rule 9 Governing Section 2255 Proceedings
("Before presenting a second or successive motion, the
moving party must obtain an order from the appropriate court
of appeals authorizing the district court to consider the
motion."). The standard for gaining leave to file a
second or successive petition is significantly higher than
that involved with a petitioner's initial collateral
challenge. 28 U.S.C. § 2255(h). It is not hard to
imagine that a prisoner might circumvent the successive
filing barrier by submitting an initial § 2255
challenge, securing a response from the United States,
reviewing that response to determine whether he likes or
dislikes his chances of success, moving to voluntarily
dismiss without prejudice under Rule 42(a)(2) when he
concludes that the odds of a favorable ruling are too slim,
and submitting an entirely new petition with distinct grounds
of collateral attack. He could then repeat the process.
this Court disagrees that this case is distinguishable from a
typical § 2255 motion because the theories for relief
were legitimate and meritorious when filed [Doc. 44 pp. 1, 3
("[Petitioner] has provided the Court with a sufficient
basis for the need to take a dismissal, namely, that the
developing body of law in this matter morphed since the
filing of the § 2255 motion from a legitimate arguable
claim, to a meritorious claim (due to Pawlak [v.
United States, 822 F.3d 902 (6th Cir. 2016)]), then
finally a non-meritorious claim (due to
Beckles).")]. While it is true that the Sixth
Circuit held "that Johnson's vagueness
analysis applie[d] equally to the Guidelines and, as a
result, that the parallel residual provision contained in
Section 4B1.2 was void for vagueness, "
Pawlak, 822 F.3d at 911, neither it nor the Supreme
Court ever held that the resulting rule applied on collateral
review, see In re Embry, No. 16-5447, 2016 WL
4056056, at *1 (6th Cir. July 29, 2016) (recognizing that
"it is not clear whether to treat Pawlak as a
new rule that the Supreme Court has not yet made retroactive
[to cases on collateral review] or as a rule dictated by
Johnson that the Supreme Court has made
retroactive"). In fact, the courts within this district
have consistently held that it would not. Henley v.
United States, No. 1:14-cv-328-CLC, 2016 WL 2643002, at
*2-5 (E.D. Tenn. May 9, 2016) (concluding that the Supreme
Court had not yet "made" Johnson's
application in the Guideline context retroactive on
collateral review); Lynn v. United States, No.
3:15-cv-571-TWP, 2016 WL 1258487, at *2-4 (E.D. Tenn. Mar.
30, 2016) (same); Barnes v. United States,
3:15-cv-375-TAV, 2016 WL 1175092, at *2-4 (E.D. Tenn. Mar.
23, 2016) (same); Frazier v. United ...
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text:
An interesting rumor reached the ever alert ears of TG Daily's hacks on the CES showroom floor last week, with word that Apple has snapped up all available supply of 10.1-inch multi-touch display LCD and OLED screens for its upcoming tablet.
"We were designing a product for a customer and we needed 10 inch screens, but we've been trying for months and can't get one from any of the Asian suppliers," an anonymous designer for a firm wishing to remain nameless told TG Daily.
"We were told that Apple pre-ordered them all. All 10 inch LCDs, and all 10 inch OLEDs too," our source continued, redundantly adding "it's for the Apple tablet."
Rumors about whether or not a version of the Apple tablet will have an OLED screen have been flying back and forth for some times now, but if it is indeed true that other firms can't get their hands on any of the expensive little screens, it may just give more credence to the claims.
Also, while we're not entirely certain what the current supply of 10.1-inch LCDs and OLEDs is in Asia, if every manufacturer is claiming to be sold out, Apple must mean to shift rather a lot of tablets – perhaps even somewhere in the region of one to one and a half million units every quarter as analysts have predicted.


text:
December 8, 2004
What student doesn't get a severe case of the munchies while studying for final exams? For 11 years, Wabash Women has offered Semester Exams Study Bags for sale to help curb healthy student appetites - with proceeds going to support worthy causes on campus and in the Crawfordsville community.
Wabash Women is a group of faculty, staff, and spouses that meets on campus throughout the year. One of its service projects includes the Semester Exams Study Bags.
The profits help support the Dean of Students Emergency Fund and community service programs in Montgomery County. The Dean's Emergency Fund is used for emergencies that arise for students, such as transportation home in case of a family illness or death, medical situations, emergency dental work, and other unanticipated needs.
Each year the fund is completely depleted, so the need is great. Last spring Wabash Women was able to give $2,500 to the Dean's Emergency Fund and $500 to the Even Start Literacy Program at the Beard Learning Center in Crawfordsville.
Each October and March the Deans' Office mails a letter and order form to parents, faculty, and staff. For $10.00 each, parents can send bags of goodies such as popcorn, candy bars, gum, granola bars, and drinks with personal messages and encouragement to their sons from home.Faculty and staff often send bags to show appreciation to students who work in their offices.Members of Wabash Women assembled the bags Dec. 10, and then the bags were delivered the night before finals began, Dec. 12. They prepared almost 400 bags for delivery for fall semester exams.
Nancy Kashon, who retired on December 10 after 15 years as the secretary to the Dean of the College, has coordinated the mailing of the parent letters since the Study Bag project began in 1993. Nancy has whole heartedly supported the project since its beginning.
"The proceeds from the money we get from parents aids other students who might be in need of help, besides doing something special for their own sons." Kashon said. "Some parents even include extra money to send a study bag to their son's roommate, a friend, or a student who might not otherwise receive a study bag."
In past years, Wabash Women has supported Montgomery County groups like Christian Nursing Service, Youth Services Bureau, Montgomery County Cultural Foundation and Old Jail Museum, Abilities Services Inc., Boys & Girls Club, Crisis Pregnancy Assistance and Summer Lunch Program.
If you are an alumnus, friend, or parent who would like to send a study bag to a student for spring semester finals, look for more information on the web in March 2005.
In photo above right, Lynn Caraher and Karen Nelson prepare bags for delivery. Above left, the contents of the average snack bag.


text:
Learning Index >> Ceramic Decoration: a selective guide to pots in the collection of the Crafts Study Centre
No 21: Bowl, 1984 (P.89.4)
This bowl is of thrown porcelain on a turned foot. It bears one of the classic motifs of ceramic decoration: a fish, possibly a carp or catfish. The fish is painted in oxides under an olive greenish transparent glaze into which it has very slightly blurred. The pot was a gift from the artist to the weaver Marianne Straub who presented it to the Crafts Study Centre.


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Tournaments / Re: 2015 Kan-U-WYCO March 14th-15th« on: March 08, 2015, 08:54:44 PM »
What does the players pack consist of?
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These guys are working hard to put this event on, nice job Sean, Narin, Fox, Boyd, and a few others I don't know. I will come out tomorrow to caddy or spot a few holes or drink some beer. See yall in the morning. Gonna be a hoot tomorrow.
Mmmmmm. Something is wrong here
Is there a current list of teams?The "fairly current" list of teams is on page 1.


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The city of Macomb has announced several street closures while road construction continues throughout the area.
According to a public service announcement, the intersection of North Dudley and East Carroll streets closed Monday and will remain so until further notice because of street renovation.
The intersection of McArthur and Adams streets will be closed starting at 7 a.m. today and reopened at the end of the day following water main construction. Also beginning at 7 a.m. and through tonight, the intersection of Johnson and Adams streets will be closed.
For more information, contact Macomb Public Works at 309-833-2821.


text:
Be inspired! Idea Above!
Keep it simple and easy and ever so cute for your holiday cards and tags. Great idea by Tracy Weinzapfel Burgos.
Do you want to win this clear stamp set CHRISTMAS CHARACTERS by Inkadinkado? Comment to our blog about How many Christmas cards you think you make each holiday season and we will pull a random winner Thursday.
CONGRATS LYSA! Email us your address so we can ship your awesome stamp set!
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text:
An adventure in politics
For students passionate about politics, there's no city more exciting than Washington, D.C. Bills being formed. Laws being passed. It's a political junkie's dream. And for five members of Iowa State's Government of the Student Body, it's where they recently had the opportunity to have their voices heard during Big 12 Day on the Hill.
There, students met with Iowa senators and congressmen to advocate for higher learning. For students who care about making a difference as much as these GSB members do, taking their concerns to D.C. was inspiring. "We got to be the face of higher education," said Nyajuok Deng, senior in criminal justice and political science. For Jacob Thomas, senior in accounting, discussing issues with representatives was exhilarating. "It's a thrill to meet the people who represent you on a national stage," he said.
Nyajuok and Jacob work hard to represent Iowa State students through GSB, whose mission is to strengthen students' voices and enhance students' experiences. And they've learned a thing or two in the process. "GSB has taught me how to network and build meaningful relationships," said Jacob.
And GSB isn't the only organization where students get the opportunity to connect with others who share their same passion. Iowa State has more than 800 clubs and organizations that cover interests of all kinds. But why should you look beyond the classroom to get involved on campus? Said Nyajuok, "There are hands-on experiences you get from joining clubs that add to the college experience." We couldn't have said it better ourselves.
Learn more about Iowa State's Government of the Student Body.
Discover what groups and clubs wait for you at Iowa State.
- A stadium-sized adventure
- Adventuring wisely
- Adventure is his turf
- Red planet adventures
- Just call them adventure socks
- 2018 November
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- 2017 February
- 2016 October
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text:
having a wife for a beauty blogger sure does come with its perks. for mr. glossarie those benefits have most recently arisen in the form of his new favorite body wash – pattern's black pepper. still a favorite in my books, pattern's washes walk the fine line of being equally effective in cleansing without stripping skin's essential oils (so important this time of year). the black pepper scent is masculine and energizing – perfect for a husband who comes home sweaty from the soccer fields 2-3 times a week.
his black pepper bottle sits directly next to my current favorite pattern scent: moisturizing nutmeg. it has been a great winter update, softening and restoring my dry skin, while smelling subtly of the season. yum!
if you're yet to give the pattern washes a try, you will not regret adding them to your shower shelf. they come in six scents you're sure to love, each one available here for $20.


text:
Charles Phan's Green Papaya Salad with Rau Ram, Peanuts, and Crispy Shallots
Get the Recipes
As Charles Phan explains in his cookbook, Vietnamese Home Cooking, versions of green papaya salad abound across Southeast Asia. This ubiquity is not surprising given its presence on most Thai and Vietnamese restaurant menus throughout the States; however these often slapdash versions don't hold a candle to the hand-sliced, just tossed salad made at home.
Phan's version is relatively simple; crisp green papaya slivers mingle with pickled carrots, fried tofu, cucumbers, and celery. A dressing of potent fish sauce, vinegar, garlic, and chiles brings the vegetables together, and then the whole caboodle is topped with fried shallots and roasted peanuts. You will, of course, have find a good way to julienne a giant papaya, pickle carrots, fry both tofu and shallots, and mix it all together before dinner. It is no last-minute side dish, but you'll be happy to have put in the time.
Why I picked this recipe: When I think of Southeast Asian dishes, one of the first that comes to mind is papaya salad.
What worked: The time spent chopping, pickling, and frying the components of Phan's salad is well worth it once you taste the bright, tangy freshness.
What didn't: I didn't need to fry the tofu for the full 15 minutes; 10 was plenty of time to create a crisp, golden exterior. I would have also liked a little more acid in the fish sauce mixture; a table-side squirt of lime juice was welcome.
Suggested tweaks: Salads such as this one are ripe for personal tweaks: Don't like celery? Swap it out for more cucumber or carrots? Can't do tofu? Replace it with another crisp-chewy protein (like Phan's suggested beef jerky) or leave it out all together. Phan recommends slicing the papaya on the julienne setting on a mandolin for ease. However, it is certainly possible to julienne the papaya by hand if you don't have a mandolin. Just plan on extra prep time.
As always with our Cook the Book feature, we have five (5) copies of Vietnamese Home Cooking to give away this week.
Get the Recipes
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text:
Kearsley High School Placed on Lockdown After Bomb Threat
Kearsley High School has been placed on lockdown after a bomb threat was made earlier today (12/5/13) -- get all the available details here.
According to WNEM, that Kearsley High School received a hand-written not that made the bomb threat around noon today. The students are safe and multiple police departments (including Michigan State Police) are currently on the scene. Shortly a bomb sniffing dog will search the are to see if the threat is legitimate or false... hopefully it's the latter.
Update: The school has been given an "all clear," and classes have resumed as usual.


text: Do you feel the need to decorate for Christmas with snowflake fairies or glittery star chains? You can get your whole family ready for Christmas with the help of these great ideas for crafty Christmas fun! Come in for Christmas Fairy Things to Make and Do by Rebecca Gilpin and many other books we have on display in the Children's Department that will help turn your house into a sparkly winter wonderland! Lynn


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The more monitors the merrier
Oct 25
I have been using multi-monitor configurations for quite a while and I can now hardly deal with only having the real estate of one monitor.
Previously I had a dual-monitor setup with my home PC and now that I have an iMac I have three monitors on my desk. The inner (and outer) geek in me rejoices at having so much screen real estate, though when I am doing my work I really gets tons of use out of such a setup and can get things done much more quickly that way.
I soon found that working with my iMac I really missed not having another monitor to work with. But even I draw the line at having four monitors on my desk as being a way too excessive. Just the energy requirements can seem extravagant. Though after seeing Al Gore's three large monitor setup and a wide screen tv I don't feel as bad.
My main working monitor is a 22 inch HP widescreen and I thought about maybe getting a switch so that I could go between using it with my PC and my iMac. I found a much better solution. This monitor had both a DVI and VGA display adapters which and a button in the front to switch between the two inputs. This was perfect since some monitor switches have a problem with ghosting if their is not enough shield around the VGA side.
This though is one thing annoying about Apple and sometimes their willingness to choose aesthetics over functionality. Their newer machines instead of using a standard DVI port, uses a mini-DVI port – an Apple only standard. Now this can make sense on a laptop where space is limited, but there is plenty of room on the back of an iMac. Now I have to admit the arrangement of USB, firewire, ethernet connector, and the mini-DVI port is quite aesthetically pleasing since every port looks roughly the same. So since this is not included with the computer you have to buy a mini-DVI adapter to be able to connect it to an external monitor. In my case instead of just buying one DVI cable I had to add the short adapter (which at 19 bucks is about the same as the much longer DVI cable.) Regardless though this is a much better solution than a monitor switch, which would have probably cost much more to get one that wouldn't have ghosting problems.
I have to admit how pleased and happy I was in the how simple it was to setup. After I hooked up the new cable to my monitor with the adapter, the iMac recognized that an external monitor was being used and started to use it immediately. With Windows I always had to set it up first to start using the new monitor and to stretch the desktop onto it.
OSX System Preferences does allow you to set the screen resolutions for both monitors or if you want to mirror them. You can also set the arrangement of the displays depending on whether the external monitor is the left or the right and to also set which monitor has the menu bar. The preferences for the dock allow you to move the dock, but the options are only left, right, and bottom. It would have been nice to have a little more control of this since the bottom position refers to only the first monitor.
I did have one glitch at first where the context menu would come up on the first monitor even when you had right clicked something on the 2nd monitor. But a reboot cured this.
I do love how rock solid video is in OSX. On Windows if I moved a screen with video from one monitor to another you would often get glitches until you had dropped it in place.
Another thing I love about OSX is that you can easily set the wallpaper for either monitor independently. In Windows this is not supported directly, though there is a recent freeware program called Display Fusion that allows you to do this. In OSX just right click the display and select Display Desktop Background and you get two dialog boxes (one on each monitor) where you simply select the background you want to use.
So now when I am doing Windows intensive work I can switch my monitor to work with the PC and still have access to one Mac screen and when I am doing mainly Mac stuff I can switch the monitor source to the Mac and still have one Windows screen. This works great.
Tags: dual monitors, mac, OSX, PC


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In 1965, when the illustrator Dan Adkins began working at the Wood Studio, he showed Wood pages he had been creating for his planned comics-oriented publication, Outlet. This inspired Wood to become an editor-publisher, and he began assembling art and stories for a magazine he titled et cetera. A front cover paste-up with the et cetera logo was prepared, but when Wood learned of another magazine with a similar title, there was a last-minute title change.
Wood launched witzend in the summer of 1966, with a statement of "no policy" and a desire to give his friends in the comics field a creative detour from the formulaic industry mainstream. The contents included Wood's "Animan" and "Bucky Ruckus," and another highlight was Al Williamson's science fiction adventure, "Savage World." Reed Crandall illustrated Edgar Rice Burroughs, along with a mixed bag of contributions by Steve Ditko, Jack Gaughan, Gil Kane, Jack Kirby, Ralph Reese, Roy G. Krenkel and Angelo Torres. The issue wrapped with Frank Frazetta's back cover portrait of Buster Crabbe.
The second issue has a front cover by Wood and a back cover by Ralph Reese. Gray Morrow takes the lead with his scifi fantasy story "Orion", featuring some of his best work; it was not completed in witzend but was eventually in Heavy Metal in 1979. Next is two pages of "Hey, Look!" by Harvey Kurtzman; then "a feeble fable," "If You Can't Join 'em... Beat 'em" by Warren Sattler. The next five pages feature Reed Crandall at his best with more illustrations from ERB's John Carter series. The center spread has poems by Wood, Reese and Pearson plus art by Frazetta for Burroughs' Pellucidar series. Bill Elder has a cartoon. There's "Midnight Special" by Steve Ditko and "By the Fountain in the Park" by Don Martin. The issue concludes with another installment of Wood's "Animan."
The third issue has a Wood front cover with an Al Williamson back cover. It opens with Ditko's first "Mr. A" by Steve Ditko and another Reed Crandall installment. "The Invaders" was illustrated by Richard Bassford. Following Wood's "Pipsqueak Papers" came more "Hey Look!" by Kurtzman and "Last Chance," a previously unpublished EC New Direction story from the 1950s, drawn by Frank Frazetta and rewritten and edited by Bill Pearson. The issue also featured work by Roger Brand, Will Eisner, Richard "Grass" Green, Art Spiegelman and Bhob Stewart.
With witzend 4, Wood began a serialization of his epic fantasy, "The World of the Wizard King." These installments of illustrated prose fiction were co-authored with Pearson. Shifting from illustrated text to a comics format, Wood continued the storyline in his later graphic novel, published in two editions (one b&w, one color) -- The Wizard King (1978) and The King of the World (Les Editions du Triton, 1978).
After the fourth issue, Wood sold witzend to Pearson "for the sum of $1.00," and the Pearson-edited issues continued to explore new avenues with contributions from Vaughn Bode, Eisner, Jeff Jones, Wood, Bernie Wrightson and others. Pearson also assembled theme issues -- Good Girls (diverse drawings of women in issue 13) and a non-comics issue profiling W.C. Fields (issue 9).
A critical survey of the magazine, "Wood at His witzend" by Rick Spanier, appears in Bhob Stewart's biographical anthology, Against the Grain: Mad Artist Wallace Wood (TwoMorrows, 2003). Designer-typographer Spanier once edited a similar graphic story publication, Picture Story Magazine, requested by the Museum of Modern Art for its collection. After analyzing all 13 issues of witzend and fitting it into the context of alternative publishing of the period, Spanier concluded that witzend's "salient point, that comic artists were entitled to more control and ownership of their own work, would eventually be recognized by the publishers of comic books, but it is hard to argue that witzend itself was a key factor in that development. Like so many other visionary endeavors, it may simply have been ahead of its time."
Issues #1-4 published by Wally Wood, #5-12 by Wonderful Publishing Company, and #13 was self-published by Bill Pearson.
Number of issues cataloged: 13


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Michelin 335/30R20 Tires
- MICHELIN®PILOT SUPER SPORTPILOT SUPER SPORT Tires by Michelin®. Season: Summer. Type: Performance, Track / Competition. Get this premium-grade Michelin Pilot Super Sport tire to enjoy the exhilaration of driving Michelin's best performing street tire! Born...$479.30 eachSize: 335/30R20Load: 108 = 2205 lbs/tireSpeed: (Y) = 186 mph$1,917.20 / set of 4
Founded in 1888 in France, Michelin is the world's largest tire producer with company offerings fitted as original equipment by premier automotive names such as Mercedes-Benz, Acura, Audi, BMW, Lexus, Volvo, Honda, Chevrolet Corvette, and Dodge Viper. Michelin tires are known for their safety, durability, and performance, and were ranked first in a 2011 J.D. Power customer satisfaction survey of original equipment tires. We offer a wide variety of Michelin tires designed for all types of climates and vehicle needs.
Having more than four decades of experience under the belt, Michelin is committed to providing innovative solutions that let customers enjoy the road. The company spares no effort to engineer and manufacture tires that ensure unmatched safety and maximum service life. The Michelin's innovations not only make your driving experience safer, but also help preserve natural resources by reducing fuel consumption and reusing old tires.
In 1907, Michelin became a part of the US tire industry with acquisition of the International Rubber Company in Milltown, New Jersey. By 1930, the company became the fourth largest tire manufacturer in the country. Today, Michelin North America is one of the largest global manufacturers with 18 plants and more than 22,000 employees. They produce the highest quality tires for airplanes, farm equipment, passenger cars, heavy-duty trucks, and motorcycles. Michelin's R&D center has developed some of the most refined tires in the world, such as 80,000-mile passenger tire for the American-made vehicles.
Michelin tires continually undergo the toughest test of all - championship racing. Isn't it the perfect laboratory for testing innovations in extreme situations? Competition has long been an essential part of the Michelin's philosophy. Since the first triumph in 1891, Michelin has been committed to engineering and designing tires that perform at the highest level possible and meet or exceed demands of the customers. Michelin truck tires as well as all other tires are passionately engineered and manufactured. As a result, Michelin delivers superior performance tires for the top racing series around the globe.
Knowing that the right tire can change everything, Michelin creates products that deliver miles of driving pleasure, safety and keep the environment cleaner. The company is convinced that delivering revenue and growing market share should not be accomplished at the expense of nature. Being concerned about every single aspect of the impact its facilities and products have on the environment, Michelin participates as well as leads studies on the effect tires have on the environment, and works to get membership for all its plants in the EPA National Performance Track program. All the efforts taken by Michelin are aimed at transformation of the road mobility, at development of safer, cleaner, and more fuel-efficient solutions.


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Home > News & Events > Wayland Press Release Archives > 2002 News Releases > August 2002 > Retired Wayland chancellor pens collection of stories
Retired Wayland chancellor pens collection of stories
Folks who hear Dr. Wallace Davis speak have pretty much the same feeling: They all think he's a talented storyteller. Davis just thinks it's part of the gig.
As the recently retired chancellor of the Wayland Baptist University system, Davis is now enjoying a bit of quiet. But one of his last projects before riding off into the sunset was completing his newest book, Climbing Sunshine Mountain.
His second book, Climbing Sunshine Mountain is a collection of Davis' favorite stories, ranging from childhood escapades to lessons learned as a university administrator. Though he believes that stories lose a bit of their flavor when transformed from spoken to written form, Davis said he gave in to repeated requests to publish the tales.
"These stories have allowed me to introduce humor into my talks or to make certain points I considered important. I am sorry to say that while the speeches were soon forgotten, the stories live on. It seems every audience has its favorite and never seems to tire of hearing it retold," Davis said.
His storytelling art, which he said he learned from his grandmother, really started being honed while Davis was a teacher many years ago.
"I started telling stories when I was a sixth-grade teacher. I used them to illustrate a point and the kids seemed to like them," he said. "When their minds would wander, I'd slip a little story in there."
During his tenure as president and then as chancellor at Wayland, Davis got plenty of chances to charm audiences with his tales. From speeches at graduation ceremonies to chapel services and other occasions, students and others have delighted in stories about the 78-pound member of the Olney High School football team and the seven-year-old fourth grader, double promoted.
A native of Olney, Texas, many of Davis' stories revolve around his childhood there. He retired in May 2002 after 11 years of leadership at Wayland and now lives in Salado with his wife, Patsy, a retired educator.
Proceeds from the sale of Climbing Sunshine Mountain will go toward the construction of a Student Activities Center for Wayland's Plainview campus. The books are available for $12.95 (plus $2 for shipping and handling if mailed) through the Office of Development. They are also available for purchase at the Wayland University Store, located in the McClung University Center on the Plainview campus.
To order a book, contact the Office of Development at (806) 291-3425.


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Members are honored with a Heritage Club celebration held on campus each spring. Much like a Homecoming designed especially for older graduates, it includes interesting programs, campus tours, and lots of opportunities for fellowship. The highlight of the two-day event is a special presentation of "Golden Anniversary" diplomas or certificates to the fifty-year class, followed by a gala banquet that evening where "Diamond Anniversary" diplomas or certificates are presented to members of the seventy-five year class. Make plans to attend Baylor Heritage Club as a new member or return to enjoy other opportunities to fellowship with classmates, friends, and perhaps make new friends within the Baylor family.
The 43rd annual Baylor Heritage Club meeting will take place April 15-16, 2019.
For more information about the Heritage Club, please e-mail Baylor Alumni Programs.


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The main common new feature between those 2 apps is the vastly redesigned new user interface and a bunch of new filters/effects.
Adobe Press Release
Adobe Introduces All-New Photoshop Elements 11 and Premiere Elements 11
Revamped User Interfaces and Innovative Features Make Photo and Video Editing, Organizing and Sharing Easier
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Sept. 25, 2012 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 11 and Adobe® Premiere® Elements 11, newly designed versions of its No. 1 selling consumer photo- and video-editing software*. Photoshop Elements 11 offers a complete solution for editing, organizing and sharing photo creations while Premiere Elements 11 offers easy creation of engaging home movies with professional flair. Available as stand-alone products, Photoshop Elements 11 and Premiere Elements 11 can also be purchased together in a low-priced bundle, providing powerful, easy-to-use tools that simplify editing and turn everyday snapshots and videos into sensational photos and home movies, creating memories that can instantly be shared with friends and family. Both solutions are available for Windows® and Mac.
"Photos and videos allow us to capture and share moments in time," said Lea Hickman, vice president products, Creative Consumer Business, Adobe. "Powerful – yet friendly and easy to use – Photoshop Elements 11 and Premiere Elements 11 inspire creativity and help consumers make the most of remembering and sharing these personal memories."
Create Great Photos with Powerful, Intuitive Tools in Photoshop Elements 11
Make photos look their best with editing options that offer virtually everything from quick fixes to a number of creative possibilities:
A completely refreshed, user-friendly interface featuring the same engine as Adobe Photoshop - the industry standard for digital imaging - includes easily-navigated Quick, Guided and Expert editing modes; one-click options; a helpful Action bar; and big, bold icons to help users get the most from their shots
Organize photos based on people, places (via Google maps geo-tagging) or events easily and intuitively
New Guided Edits make pro-level effects like tilt-shift, vignettes and high and low-key easy to create
New filters – Comic, Graphic Novel and Pen & Ink – inspire creativity by turning photos into stunning illustrations
Intelligent Photoshop technology makes it easy to extract objects from different photos
Easily share photos via email, Facebook, YouTube™, Vimeo® and more†
Pro-quality Videos Made Easy with Premiere Elements 11
Create attractive, pro-level videos with automated moviemaking options to take the work out of editing:
An entirely new and improved user interface including many of the same updates found in Photoshop Elements 11
Add polish with a wide range of great-looking effects, transitions, themes, titles, disc menus and professional-level effects and sound
Give videos Hollywood movie styles with FilmLooks; easily apply slow and fast motion effects; dial-in colors with slider controls; effortlessly integrate blends for seamless transitions; and make adjustments with Quick Presets
Show off finished creations with integrated video sharing on Vimeo†
Pricing and Availability
Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 and Adobe Premiere Elements 11 software for Windows and Mac is available now at http://www.adobe.com, and will soon be available at retail outlets such as Amazon.com, B and H Photo and Video, Best Buy, Costco, New Egg, Office Depot and Staples. The Photoshop Elements 11 & Premiere Elements 11 bundle is available now for a suggested retail price of US$149.99, with upgrade pricing of US$119.99. Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 and Adobe Premiere Elements 11 are available individually for a suggested retail price of US$99.99, with upgrade pricing of US$79.99. (Prices listed are the Adobe direct store prices in the U.S.; reseller prices may vary. Prices do not include tax or shipping and handling.)
Information about other language versions, as well as pricing, upgrade and support policies is available at Adobe.com. For free training videos, visit Adobe TV.
Education pricing for students, faculty and staff in K-12 and higher education is available from Adobe Authorized Education Resellers and the Adobe Education Store. Visit http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/volumelicensing/education for more information about education volume licensing for higher education and K-12 institutions.
About Adobe Systems Incorporated
Adobe is changing the world through digital experiences. For more information, visit http://www.adobe.com.
Another year, another LR beta. Some hots & nots: Lots of video functionality added, like cropping and effects, geo-tagging and soft-proofing, but face detection didn't make it. And its still bad at making cofeee:
"New tools to enhance and share your digital photograph library . . . read more
A few new cameras are supported in this final version:
Canon" EOS-1D X, PowerShot G1 X, PowerShot S100
Fujifilm: FinePix F505 EXR, FinePix F605 EXR, FinePix HS30 EXR, FinePix HS33 EXR
Nikon: D4, D800, D800E . . . read more
If the first reviews are a good indicator about the 'goes to 11' version of Photoshop Elements, we have a winner in our hands. Imaging Resource were the first ones ready with a review, and they're really thankful for adobe's efforts to rejuvenate the UI: . . . read more


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BBC News
£5 note 'worth £50,000' found in Christmas card
A £5 note engraved with a tiny portrait of Jane Austen and said to be worth up to £50,000 has been found in a Christmas card. The second of four special £5 notes featuring art by specialist micro-engraver Graham Short turned up on Thursday in Scotland. The first was found in change from a café in south Wales earlier this month. Two more special £5 notes, spent in England and Northern Ireland, remain in general circulation.
Read full story: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-38466625
Keep Checking Your £5 Notes
There must be more to life than football?
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New Elevation Worship Album Becomes an Instant Chart-Topper
Elevation Worship released a new album on Tuesday, and it shot straight to the top of both the Christian and overall music charts on iTunes.
The deluxe edition of the album, titled Nothing Is Wasted, debuted in the top spot on the iTunes Christian & Gospel Top Albums chart, according to Provident Label Group, and the standard edition debuted in the third spot among Christian albums.
The deluxe edition has also made it as high as fifth on the overall chart on iTunes, and is in the top 10 alongside mainstream artists such as Justin Timberlake, Mumford & Sons and The Lumineers.
Wade Joye, worship pastor at Elevation Church, told The Christian Post on Thursday that members of the worship team and the church were surprised by how well the album has been received thus far.
They are most excited, however, that people are being exposed to what God is doing through their Charlotte, N.C., church, he said. On the day of the album's release, the church held a 12 hour-long celebration, which was streamed live via the Internet on the Elevation Network.
"We do an album a year, and each album we just try to reflect on what God's done in our church over the year," said Joye. "So anytime we release an album it's really a celebration of what God has done in the life of our church."
The album shares a theme with Greater: Dream Bigger. Start Smaller. Ignite God's Vision for Your Life, the best-selling book written by Elevation Church lead pastor Steven Furtick, which draws principles from the story of the biblical prophet Elisha to show readers that God can do greater things through them.
Each song on the album corresponds to a chapter in the book, though reading the book first isn't necessarily required for listeners to understand and enjoy the songs.
Joye said the writing process was difficult at first, trying to create songs based on the book's chapters, until Furtick instructed the worship team to treat each chapter like a single sermon. They then wrote their songs as a response to how each "sermon" impacted them.
"I think when we had that framework it was really freeing, really inspiring and it actually was my favorite writing process that we've had so far," said Joye.
Each song on the record was recorded twice – once during a live worship experience at the church and another in a studio – so listeners can enjoy each song but in different arrangements. Both versions of each song are available on the deluxe edition of the album, while just the live renditions are available on the standard edition.
Previous albums recorded by the worship band include Kingdom Come, For the Honor and Live Worship.
Furtick, leading a group of just eight families at the time, founded Elevation Church in 2006. The church has since grown to more than 12,000 people in weekly attendance and is one of the fastest growing congregations in the country.


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Dining Out and Autism
Welcome to this installment of 'Topic of the Week.' These topics stem from submissions from our community. If there is anything in particular that you would like to see featured, please contact us!
The idea of dining out for a person with autism is often daunting. How do you prepare yourself or your child for going to a restaurant? Can you share some positive/negative dining experiences? What strategies do you employ to ensure the best experience possible for you and your family?
May 31, 2011 at 1:25 pm
My son is 13 now and its easier, especially if we go over menu options ahead of time and make sure his go-to's are on the menu but he often reminds me of the last time he had a melt down at a pizza place. I realize now that it was too loud, it was a chaotic environment and he couldn't tell which pizza was ours when they were brought to the table. I have learned from that experience and ask for what we need in advance or do take out.
May 31, 2011 at 1:29 pm
I take my son with Asperger's out quite often and it is always a good experience. He looks at the menu and chooses his own food. I do have to give him and his brother reminders atleast once while in the restaurant to settle down and behave accordingly, which they immediately do. I'm very proud to say patrons have actually commemted about how well behaved my children were in the restaurant, which makes me proud and I know I've done a good job.
June 11, 2011 at 11:41 am
I know I've done a good job. Please acknowledge the effort your children have made. To learn and apply in different situations is very difficult for them. To enlighten the world, we must defer to their abilities, not take credit, as if they were a dog we trained
May 31, 2011 at 1:35 pm
First of all, I try to avoid places that are very crowded. Then I simply explain that my son is autistic, and I do not wish to disturb the other patrons; could you please put us in a quiet corner? Usually, when we go to a place, there is some section that is closed off. I ask to be seated there. Most of the time they are very nice and compliant. TGI Friday's is very good with that, as well as Applebee's and Outback.
June 3, 2011 at 1:11 pm
Yes, Applebee's is my son's favorite restaurant! They are wonderful! But ours doesn't have a closed off section, so we just try to go during slow hours, haha
May 31, 2011 at 1:35 pm
I try to talk the whole thing through with our 7-year-old, who has Asperger's and is able to understand consequences and rewards for his behavior. He is now able to tell us he doesn't want to go to a restaurant he doesn't know because it might be too loud, or crowded, so I try to phone ahead to see. But if it's really going to stress him, we may just drop the idea and order in. We do mostly go to neighborhood places he's been many times. I have also followed through on warnings; if his behavior becomes inappropriate, I'll take him outside the restaurant to let him calm down. If that doesn't work, we leave. Now that he knows I mean it, things have improved.
May 31, 2011 at 1:38 pm
I wrote about this very topic on my blog just the other day…
Feel free to share and repost.
May 31, 2011 at 1:39 pm
Our son really likes to go out to eat. As long as the restaurant has grilled cheese, french fries and milk, we're good to go. It's also easier for us if we get seated in a booth, especially with a window view. That way, he's "cornered in" and he loves looking out the window. We make sure we have a backpack full of his favorite toys (right now, it's the Handy Manny tools). I'm very grateful that we are able to do this with him. He frequently asks to go to Applebee's, Friday's or Texas Roadhouse! :)
May 31, 2011 at 1:42 pm
i have two children with autism we took our youngest who is four to a pub resterant it was ok at first untill it come to ordering food she didnt want anything we offerd to her she threw herself around kicking and screaming and at one point banged her head againt the chair when she finally calmed after that episode she got quite impatient for her food when it finally came she refused to eat it i noticed some people were staring and talking about us at first it did used to bother us but now its part of normal life and we pretend we are the only ones there we dont go out alot because of the stress of it all and we know when we at home she is in a routine and does better in the home enviroment sometimes its easier too.
May 31, 2011 at 1:42 pm
I have a form of Autism I used to get periods of extreme panic where I felt as though everyone was watching me. It is a very hard and claustrophobic feeling and the best way to stop this is to practice controlled breathing techniques and also recieve re-assurance from your friends.
May 31, 2011 at 1:44 pm
hi our son will be 3 in july,were only at the beginning of our journey our son was just recently diagnosed.As of now we dont have a problem dining out with him as long as there is no waiting time….as in it has to be a fast food place where the food comes straight away or a buffet place,once the food is on the table all is good.But if there is waiting time,were in a melt down,screaming,crying totally uncontrollable & with that i dont know if its because he doesnt like waiting or maybe as i see in the above post chaotic enviroment or noise….Our son at the moment is non verbal,so im unaware what he makes of the whole experience…….but im sure in time we will learn.
May 31, 2011 at 4:42 pm
my son used to be the same way he was diagnosed around the same age as your little guy…Its not the waiting that he doesnt like its the strange environment, noise, people he doesnt know, smells that kind of thing relaxing environments are more relaxing for everyone and he is associating the food immediately thing with eating if he is at a table to eat there should be food there right? so he sees and empty table and knows there is something missing and it makes him uncomfortable…i used to bring little crackers and a small toddler bowl for restaurants when we were waiting for our food it seemed to help i hope this helps you somewhat….just take this one day at a time its a long road but everything will be ok hang in there you will learn some pretty cool tricks along the way
May 31, 2011 at 5:57 pm
thankyou Cassandra for youre reply,yes i so totally get what you mean about 'sitting up at a table & there should be food there' cos at home,i only put my son Kyle up to the table when the food is there waiting for him,so obviously that is what he has come accustomed to so it makes sense for him to become agitatated & sense something is wrong/not right when hes put at a table & what he expects (dont know if thats the correct word) honestly dont know why i didnt put that together on my own,but sometimes you need someone from outside the box,to let you understand……….i know i have a lot of learning & understanding to do yet & some tricks to learn,so once again,thankyou
May 31, 2011 at 10:37 pm
Our son is also turning 3 in July and was recently diagnosed. We found that any waiting over 15 minutes can usually be a loss. We bring some of his favorite toys (luckily they're small cars) and some little snacks to help ease the wait. We generally try to order his food with the drinks and tell them we would like his as soon as possible. Most places have been nice enough to comply without any question. My son is just now becoming more verbal with feelings (scared, too loud, etc.) but we noticed that the more people there are the more uncontrollable he becomes. Most of this was before he was diagnosed and we were in the not understanding why phase. Since he was diagnosed we just try to essentially keep him busy in "our little world" in wherever we are and use the same techniques of toys and snacks. It works fine for at least 45 minutes.
May 31, 2011 at 1:45 pm
My 4 yr old son has aspergers and I have a 2 yr old, so going out is a challenge but we do it. We go during off peak times so restaurant is not as crowded leading to sensory overload. I also do not stress if the kids don't eat, and just take it get a to go box. My son will then usually eat the rest of his food on the way home. My husband and i also allow Justin to pick the restaurant from a couple of his favorites(cracker barrel and logans) because he's more apt to eat and behave if he helped make the decision. Lastly I always make sure we have a favorite item to provide a distraction and comfort.
May 31, 2011 at 1:51 pm
When we take our daughter with autism and is non-verbal, will be 7 in a couple weeks out to a restaurant. we have to make sure that we get a booth and and that if there is any waiting to get that booth one of us will have to wait with her somewhere else (like the car). Then once we are able to be seated she just needs her iPod touch or iPad to keep her focused on something. Because generally there are way too many things going on in any restaurant. But once she is seated she does very good and is generally well behaved.
May 31, 2011 at 2:01 pm
Dining out is something we do very seldom…our son is sixteen but has very little patience. An outdoor venue is always more fun for him (doesn't feel as crowded)…
May 31, 2011 at 2:07 pm
My daughter is five and we eat out a fair bit. I try to eat at family-friendly restaurants or fast food. I go over what the choices are before we get to the restaurant. I also always pack things for her to do while we wait. The crayons and colourign sheet they give at the restaurant is usually not enough.
May 31, 2011 at 2:18 pm
My son is 16 and has PDD-NOS. We have always taken him and his 14 year old brother (who has ADHD) out to restaurants with few problems. Major chains have their menus on their websites, which helps to plan ahead. We no longer have any problems with ordering – he does his own but we try to approve what he wants before the waiter comes to take the order, mostly from a health standpoint! He is adventurous with food. He has eaten in restaurants with school friends and we always go over the tipping procedure ahead of time.
May 31, 2011 at 2:26 pm
As an autistic adult (raising and mentoring ASD kids), I cannot stress enough about the environment of the place we go to. I have a very hard time (even at 47 years of age) in most public eating places and have developed a keen eye for those quiet yet still yummy public places over the years. Places like "Chucky Cheese…" are ridiculous for most ASD kids and should be avoided at all costs IMHO. Another horrible place is one called Red Robin (in the PNW) where the ambient room noise is often over 80db. One thing parents can do that would be exceedingly helpful for their kids is to download a DB Meter for their smart phones. I have found that it is pretty consistent that any room with an ambient noise level about 75 db is NOT a great place for most ASD people. Once that is eliminated the whole "picking out food" and other stuff can be so daunting…
May 31, 2011 at 2:28 pm
Hmmm… seems I posted too soon…
Once the environment factor (noise, activities, etc) is eliminated then the other daunting tasks such as picking out food, etc… is less daunting…
May 31, 2011 at 2:27 pm
Eating out always requires lots of advance notice. We stick with a small handful of places that don't mind accommodating his needs….whether is turning the radio down, letting us have a secluded booth, etc. We've also found that sitting at booths with windows looking out helps!
May 31, 2011 at 2:29 pm
The very same fine dining establishments that took my money when I was dating seat and serve my 16 year old son Thomas. If you don't expose children to restaurants other than McDonald's, they will always behave like they are at McDonald's.
That is not to say there are not embarrassing moments but they come with the territory. Insuring a smooth flow is essential to success. Someone in the party inquiring as to how this is made and where that was caught, asking for the specials to be repeated etc, is not a good idea.
A relationship with the wait staff really helps. At my son's favorite places, they know what he wants walking through the door. He is served promptly, with personalized attention and like anyone else, responds positively.
As a parent, I have to watch what and how he eats and if necessary calm and redirect him. I cannot have coarse words at the table with others and have to pay attention. If a situation gets out of hand, getting up and leaving promptly is not only fair to other diners but reinforces the cost of bad behavior.
Don't leave your autistic kids out of the better things in life. Everyone else will get over it!
May 31, 2011 at 2:30 pm
Another "hint" for those of you with Teens on the spectrum. I use "dining out" as a tool for teaching my kiddos to advocate. Since mostly I and they want something customized from the regular menu, this teaches them that it is okay to ask for special stuff and how to do it politely as well as pay for it. I make my teens figure out tips at the end of the meals. :) Good stuff all around.
May 31, 2011 at 2:36 pm
Hello to All,
New to this space but excited to get started. We take our son Jack (11 years old) to virtually any style restaurant but there are caveats. We know in advance (as others here have mentioned) what's on the menu and what Jack can/will have. He is on a gf/cf diet and so often times, if it's pizza, we will go to Beau Jo's (it's a chain in a number of states), which has a gluten free pizza, it's awesome and he is absolutely in heaven. Other favs for Jack are The Outback (great gf menu) and loud enough but not too loud, to have a great family lunch/dinner together and they have restaurants all over; any restaurant that serves steak or ribs is also on our radar. The last thing we do to help Jack enjoy the experience is to bring his iPod (very calming) and some of his favorite snack foods (oranges, popcorn or chips) and a pad of paper with ink pen to write/draw/scribble.
Thanks for creating a forum for voices. This dad is needing that, big time!
May 31, 2011 at 2:40 pm
My son is only 8 so it's easiest for me to choose what he is going to eat. If we get lucky enough to find a buffet, I let him choose. Most of our dining out experiences don't go too bad. We have had occasions though where I have had to take him outside or he eats so much he throws up at the table… Always a mood killer :(
May 31, 2011 at 3:46 pm
My daughter is almost 7 years old and has aspergers. We just came from the Chinese Buffet for an early dinner. She did pretty well, considering. We always sit by the window in a spot that is not crowded. The window gives her something to focus on other than the people. We usually eat at buffets and places she is familiar with. We do call ahead to see if it is crowded. We bring a few sensory things for her like her wrist pulls, chewies, sometimes her wedge to sit on and a few other things to help her. We do not sit near the food, due to smells. If she is having a bad day from the start we choose another day.
May 31, 2011 at 6:36 pm
im learning so much from this blog,our son will be 3 in july,just recently diagnosed with asd………..we more or less got the diagnosis & sent home,not really knowing what to do……….but in one of his accessments chewies were mentioned……my son licks everything,or else he his chewing on his seater,the part at his wrist,is their somewhere on line i can obtain these from??? i apolize if i seem lost or over eager,but im trying to do the best i can for my son,were in Ireland,you get a diagnosis & then have to wait months & months for services & help to understand.
June 3, 2011 at 11:50 pm
I have a nonverbal 2 year old Giovanni with ppd-nos any help or suggestions? I have relied on the internet for information. I have to say go with your instincts its a long road but intervention and therapies work. There are great websites out there for sensy. I have started the brushing protacal and bought my son a chewing tube.
June 10, 2011 at 3:43 pm
Hi Shirley,
My son Mason is 9 and he loves to chew on things too. He doesn't really like the therapy tubes found from various websites, but he does like oxygen tubing. My husband buys this online, I'm not sure where. If your interested, let me know and I can ask him for you. We buy a big bundle, and he cuts long strips and then makes a loop and ties a knot. Mason stays busy trying to get the knot undone and then chewing on the tube. It helps when he is stressed out. The deep pressure from bitting the tubing helps his sensory overload decrease. I hope this helps.
Amanda Wright
May 31, 2011 at 4:19 pm
To all of you new to dining out with autistic children please note that it gets better with practice. If you are unfortunate enough to go to a place with sensory overload, the experience will prevent you from going to that place again. My soon to be 5 grand-daughter does well in familiar places and if she's having a good day, unfamiliar places. She loves a local Chinese buffet, not the best food in the world, but because of that it's never crowded and the music and lights are low. She can see the entire restaurant from any table, so she doesn't stress if I go to get refills. She does ok in restaurants with table service, but it's best to ask for crackers or a dinner roll when ordering drinks. Waiting for food is not one of her strong points. Avoid Friday night and Sunday brunch, way too busy most places. Ask for an out of the way table to avoid collisions with the wait staff. Forget after dinner chit-chat, save it for a sans children time. By all means, do dine out, it's part of modern life and we want our children to participate as fully as possible in life.
May 31, 2011 at 5:56 pm
Our three year old look has autism. I am a professional chef , so eating out is very important part of our lives, I want all my 4 kids to love dining and food as much as I do. That being said, Luke is a picky eater, we go to small family places or small ethnic restaurants . The smaller places are more willing to accommodate . The chains also have terrible food so it is cool to discover so many great little "joints". My boy loves his iPod touch. That usually does the trick. The smaller places don't mind if we bring our own food for Luke. Tipping is the key people! Luke will do whatever we do!
May 31, 2011 at 6:23 pm
my daughter brianna makes alot of
noise older people stare we are
working on manners. She is 10.
May 31, 2011 at 6:45 pm
my daughter is loud people stare it is all right if you
you go places she wants to go to ,to eat she sometimes will cause a scene.
May 31, 2011 at 7:50 pm
I'm actually going to address two things…the first is our parenting guideline for taking our children to restaurants in general (the result of many years spent working in fine dining restaurants): if they do not have a children's menu and our child acts out, we respect the experience of the other diners by not allowing our children to disrupt them if they are loud, melting down, etc. If they have a children's menu, the restaurant is intended for families and there should be a reasonable level of tolerance for at least some "normal" kid chaos.
As far as dining out with our 8 y/o with ASD, the first key is not to push him…something that happens almost without exception as it gets later in the evening. Our son has a serious sensory processing issues and, as a result, does not feel hunger, but he does get testy when his body wants food (he just does not connect this with eating). If we take him with us, we make sure they serve something he likes and we put his order in as soon as we are seated. We also ask that they bring it out when it is ready. It is the downtime that gets to him…waiting for food and having nothing to distract him. We take a mini whiteboard and markers as well as whatever object is his interest of the moment, but the best distraction for him is the food itself. Finally, we kind of gear him up for dining out ahead of time. He also gets to take his turn choosing the restaurant (as do his brother and sister).
Probably the most important thing we have learned about his eating habits both at home and in public is that if he decides ahead of time what he is going to order, he is more inclined to eat it – so we often discuss what he will order on the way to the restaurant (we also let him order himself).
May 31, 2011 at 7:58 pm
green vegetable enhance the beauty of dining room.
May 31, 2011 at 10:09 pm
I have a 14 year old with aspergers who made plans to take his girlfriend to Homecoming to include a dinner date. After thinking through all the times I'd "helped" him read through the menu, order, etc the thought of him doing all that on his own without my help made me cringe! I took him out a couple times and let him be in charge of ordering, paying and leaving the tip. After a few practice dinners with mom he was ready to go on his date – and it was a complete success. They even stayed through the entire Homecoming dance. My lesson learned is that by letting go and helping less…I'm actually helping more.
June 6, 2011 at 4:21 pm
I know I'll someday see this day in the near future, my son is 14 & also has Asperger's. He's definetly interested in girls, his hormones are going "nuts"!!! The practice runs seem to be a good thing, because it'll prepare him on everything & help him get used to doing it by himself, which is a BIG thing, doing it him self without clamming up & getting too anxious that he can't cope & has to escape the whole situation.
May 31, 2011 at 10:14 pm
Our almost 9 year old Aspergers son NOW enjoys restaurants, and asks to go out. At first, he would only want to go to
A handful of places all with none to minmal wait. With persistence and a few episodes of pullingout our hair, we kept trying new places and continue to do so. It was also important for us to bring things for him to do. We now expect him to spend some time talking with us. It is possible to change the behavior- although it can be stress fil to get there, i really appreciate not having to eat at mcdonalds all the time!
June 1, 2011 at 7:55 am
I usually bring something to keep him busy. His DSI or some kind of electronic. sometimes he plays games on my iphone or on my husbands ipod. that helps with the time waiting for the food to come.
June 1, 2011 at 9:27 am
Breakfast for lunch, dinner or… Breakfast! Easiest meal for our son to order GFCF. "2 eggs scrambled, no milk, no toast, side order of bacon, side order of fries, PLEASE!" We let him order himself, even if the waitstaff knows what he wants. There are several chains that serve breakfast all day. He just enjoys going out so we don't focus so much on it being a "fancy" place. He can learn etiquette in any dining place. We save the more upscale places for date night. He is trying new things like fish, and he likes brown rice and corn. We just need to make sure thar these items can be prepared GFCF. It gets easier w/practice – just like anything else. Good luck!
June 1, 2011 at 11:32 am
I would love feed back about this.. because if I bring crayons or something for my son to do, all he wants to do is play with the salt and pepper and sugar and if I tell him no, he screams on the top of his lungs and the entire restaurant stares at us.. I'm getting used to this, but there has to be a better way..
June 3, 2011 at 1:36 pm
Your son sounds like mine. My son is 9 and crayons no longer interest him. He likes to do concrete things to keep his hands busy. We often bring his DSi to the table at a restaurant. Some restaurants have little jellies that are sitting at the table such as Bob Evans. We use these as blocks to make towers, pyramids and to have practice counting. The waitresses will bring more upon request. They are very helpful. Also cracker barrel has checkers and the triangle peg board games to keep things interesting. Perhaps you could get a small lego kit of 25 pieces or more and build it with him at the table. Keeping him hands busy helps to avoid a fit! Good Luck!!
June 1, 2011 at 2:33 pm
My son with Asperger Syndrome is 18 in a few days. He was diagnosed at 3. He had tremendous sensory processing problems, and for a long time, we could not go out to eat at all. At about 5, he was having a very good Sunday afternoon. We went to a family restaurant (Eat & Park for those in or near Pittsburgh, PA). It was quiet, and there was no wait. He had a visual menu and circled his choices – cereal, milk, and French Fries. At the end of the meal, he had a sugar cookie with icing on it (their tradition). It was a great success. We went to Eat and Park regularly after that. One day we passed a Ground Round, and he said "we haven't been there for a long time. We should go". Well, we dropped everything and went. Another success! We slowly built up his tolerance for more (and louder) places. Now, he can go almost anywhere as long as they have French fries, fish and chips, or chicken fingers. With my son, it was always about slowly getting him accustomed to new things. Read more about my family's journey about our 18 year journey on my blog at autismwhisperer.net
June 1, 2011 at 8:51 pm
I give my son a stress ball to bring into the restaurant. My son likes the large pom poms found in craft stores. We ask for seating away from the crowd. We will order an appetizer so he does not have a long wait to eat. Now we are finally able to enjoy a dinner that is not a buffet.
June 3, 2011 at 1:10 pm
This is one I've usually not had a problem with the resturants here have been very good we've gone to the more expensive ones and I just carry a larger purse to hide the McDonalds bag and they bring me a plate. The one time I had a problem a lady from another table who was with a Historical tour and a special education teacher from NC, calmed him down and we got him away from everyone else.
June 3, 2011 at 1:12 pm
I remember one time, back in the first few years of my nephew's life with autism we went to a restaurant a very "family-friendly" place. This would have been 2004 or so, which was a completely different level of awareness and consciousness about ASD. My nephew was having a hard time, and my sister kept getting judgemental looks and huffs and puffs from a couple at a nearby table. Finally, they said rudely: "Can't you control your child???"
My sister stopped what she was doing, stood up and said:
"My son has autism. We are trying to help him modify his behavior. What do you have to say about YOURS?"
June 3, 2011 at 1:12 pm
I take a group of children on the spectrum every Saturday to our local Swiss Chalet that has healthy gluten free foods (for those with sensitivities) We have been going there every Saturday for about 6 years. The children range from non-verbal to HF. Sometimes we are there for up to 1.5 hours when the restaurant is busy.
Now for the most part all the children are quite well behaved. It was not always so. It has taken practice and I have always had high expectations for their behaviour.
Things I keep on hand to avoid meltdowns.
1. Bag of snack foods: carrots etc.
2. Fidget toys.
3. Visual cue cards.
The restaurant always has crayons and the cute menus to colour on which most of the children do so when we first arrive.
They all order their own food and speak to the waiter or waitress themselves. I made up my own menu using Boardmaker but now they know how to use the restaurant menu.
I encourage and promote this activity as a time to practice conversation skills. With the children talking to each other about their week as none go to the same school. Most days there are 6-8 in attendance with 2-3 adults. We all sit at the same table and honestly I have a ball with this group. Like anything else it is about practice and now my kids are seasoned restaurant goers and the experience is most always nothing but positive!
June 3, 2011 at 1:13 pm
My son is 9. He has Asperger's and ADHD as well as multiple food allergies. We take him out to dinner quite often and it is a good experience now. He knows what his allergies are to and I speak to the waitstaff about what he is able to eat…. hamburgers, sometimes plain pasta, simple foods. My son usually orders for himself once we decide what he can eat. We generally order a side of something, fries or a salad usually, so he can get started right away. Restaurant choice is important, it cannot be too noisy. Crowds are generally ok but noise is NOT. We usually go out on weeknights, it isn't as busy so the staff can accomodate our needs. My son knows what acceptable behavior is in a restaurant, he places his napkin on his lap and is now able to cut most of his own food. Dining is a social experience and the more he sees others enjoying being social he has positive models.
June 3, 2011 at 1:13 pm
For the longest time, taking Cannon out to eat was something that was just NOT going to happen. We wouldn't know what would trigger him into a meltdown. For us, going out to eat, meant getting burgers and nuggets at the drive through and eating in a park where it is ok to kick and yell and scream to our heart's content. Part of his treatment and therapy is immersing him into situations that he might not always like, but are socially essential for him to have experiences with, such as eating at a restaurant with the family. We have a plan formulated for every restaurant we can go to, and most of those plans are similar, but have a few variations. First on our plan is to tell the hostess that we need a large booth, close to the door (large because we are a family of 6 and need room to spread out, close to the door in case we need to "escape"). We take plenty of "distractions" (books, stuffed animals, toy cars, crayons, etc). We order the kids' food as soon as our server gets to us, so that way they do not have to wait. We inform the server, the hostess, and those around us that we are family dealing with ASD and we apologize in advance for any inconveniences or disturbances we invoke. If it happens to be a restaurant where we know flat out that Cannon will not eat anything (such as HuHot) we have a few snackies for him, but also promise him that as long as he sits nicely with the family, as soon as we are done, we will take him to his restaurant and get him a burger or some nuggets. The important thing is that we expose him to these social situations so that way when he is older and hopefully on his own, he will be able to go out to eat with his companions or with us again.
June 3, 2011 at 1:17 pm
I just don't take my son out to eat anymore. He is 6 now, and has been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. If we go out, he can't /won't sit down. He always hates the food, even if it is something he usually likes, and he keeps trying to talk to the waitresses when they are busy with other customers. He will talk very loud, and has to keep saying what he's saying until someone acknowledges him. About the time we're frazzled, he has to go to the bathroom. So Dad takes him to the bathroom where he strips completely naked to go. Then he talks LOUDLY about pooping or something, andit takes him forever to go. It is never pleasant!
June 3, 2011 at 1:19 pm
i have 2 autistic children, 3yrs and 5 yrs, and we have never tried to take them into a restaurant yet. We have tried in a small cafe but my 3 yr old runs under tables and runs if i try to go near him so i can seat him. We try coaxing him, talking to him but due to his lack of verbal communication and a low level of understanding, we have ended up catching him and he immediately goes into meltdown, kicking screaming, throwing himself backwards and biting me. I basically ignore this mood and strap him in his buggy and he just continues to create bigtime,so we have to leave. We had this exact issue when my 5yr old was his age but since starting school she has calmed alot and likes to copy others. So we stay home always……..for now
June 3, 2011 at 1:24 pm
My 8 year old son with Asperger's loves his DSI, and pretty much only gets to play with it in restaurants, on long lines, and on long car trips. Our rule in the restaurant is that he can play until dinner is on the table, then it goes away until he has eaten. He gets it back after his meal, and he is so happy with it that my husband and I get to linger over coffee. (We could never do that before the DSI!)
June 3, 2011 at 1:30 pm
SHOCK & AWE!!!!! I started taking my stepson's, Joey, 12 (Aspergers), Alex 8 (Autism/MR) and Jacob 5 (ADHD) to breakfast at Burger King. I had told them for several days what the expectations were and the consequences if they did not behave correctly. They never went to any restuaunts with any of their relatives because "they are just terrible." So off we went to BK for breakfast on a Saturday morning. While I was ordering the boys all took to jumping around, screaming and fighting about which booth we should sit at and sliding on the benches while throwing the salt & pepper shakers. I allowed the behavior, the lady behind the counter thought I was a nut. She finally gave me one last dirty look and the food.
With tray in hand I got the boys attention, and they watched as I threw the entire breakfast tray in the trash. Shock & Awe. We went home and had Cheerios. This happened twice, and we left before ordering twice (thankfully, it was getting pricey and I hated throwing the food away).
Then one day SUCCESS! They sat there like three little lambs, waiting for their french toast sticks and tater tots.
Since then we have only had to leave a restuarunt once or twice due to behavior, but for the most part the boys behave so nice! I swear the Shock & Awe worked for us! Just be sure to set your expectations before you try this… It can't be a punishment, it has to be a direct and immediate consequence to their behavior.
June 3, 2011 at 2:03 pm
My 9 year old son who has Autism, ADHD, and Bi Polor used to be quite the handfull at restraunts. I have noticed that he had days where he likes things noisey and busy and days where every little noise tends to bug him. So when we do go out to eat, which is not very often we try to pick according to his mood for the day. Also, I have learned that if I am able to keep them occupied after ordering that really helps. All 3 of my kids will take their DS's with them, I also keep small cards and small UNO cards in my purse as well for just in case.
June 3, 2011 at 2:09 pm
We don't go to a restaurant unless we know some of the things my 5 year old will eat are on the menu. (She has PDD-NOS.) Wait staff are usually pretty accommodating if you ask. A quiet corner is good not only for the noise level, but also for walking around without disturbing other tables. We had an awesome waitress last week that went and got us a second straw that was the "right" color. Another thing that works for us is to have three restaurants we'd like to go to, and letting my daughter choose from that list.
June 3, 2011 at 2:22 pm
My 12 year old is a high functioning autistic and he has sensory integration disorder, he`s very sensitive to noise, such as people chewing…we have found that when we all start to eat, if he has head phones on this works very well to "drown out" the chewing noises which drive him batty. He has gotten to the point that he doesn`t always need headphones but he`ll compensate and lean an ear over onto his shoulder. We do alot of making our expectations of him crystal clear so if he acts up, he knows he`s receiving the consequence because HE chose it.
June 3, 2011 at 2:51 pm
I prepare my 10 yrold son by letting him know the name of the resturant, he will vision it and if its a usually great, but new places "yuck".
My son always, no matter what i do,has to use the restroom everytime we dine, and its not num 1. So after oh id say 4 yrs i finally bring a mini lysol. When he was younger i got stares about taking him to the ladies room.still get whispers about why my child is "making noises". Or why he cant stay still, and picks layerz off his food peiece by peice. Its hard it sucks sometimes its unecessary and ignorant. But he is mine:)
June 3, 2011 at 3:40 pm
I have an adult son, who we took out to dinner from birth. One of the things that would help, was having something small for him to eat while he waited for the food, so chips and salsa, bread, crackers, these were all things that satisfied him till his food arrived. He had his share of melt-downs, but learned that it wasn't fun to be pulled away from the food. We seemed to avoid the loud noisy pizza places and stuck more with the family sit-down restaurants. These places tend to have coloring menus, which also kept him occupied.
June 3, 2011 at 4:31 pm
My little boy does really well in the "dining out" setting! We get some looks from time to time when I am convincing him that the "new" food isn't bad! It takes me feeding my 5 year old a bite or two before he is okay! I love my special boy! His big brother and sister will even help out and try his food and tell him how good it is! LOL! All in all we have good dining out experiences. ( but we also dine at NON peak hours too!)
June 3, 2011 at 10:36 pm
I have always taken my Oldest out with me. I found the more often he is out the more Comfortable He is in Public. The only hard part is that he is now 15 and stands 6'3″ so I have to keep on my toes with him. He Love's going to Classic Car and Motorcycle Shows.
June 4, 2011 at 12:14 pm
My Son with autism is 10 and most of the time loves to a "restaurant" His favorites are carls Jr and Red Robin for cheese burgers. Finding places with gluten free menus are becoming easier to find as well.
He will at times have issues with noise levels or he may not like our server for whatever reason and can show his displeasure by slapping his leg and yelling "no Wal Mart for you" (in his mind not going to Wal Mart is the worst thing ever.)
He calms down when his cheese burger and chocolate milk arrive.
The things we have done is practiced ahead of time when he was younger and started out with places like McDonalds and other fast food places before making the jump to the high end Red Robin (note sarcasm.) This does gives us an opportunity to go out somewhere as a family.
June 5, 2011 at 12:40 am
My son is on the spectrum and he usually does pretty well when we take his DS into the restaurant to keep him busy and help him tune out the stimuli. His favorite place to eat is Cracker Barrel, where he can eat breakfast anytime. We have had issues in the past and still do on occasion, but he just turned 10 and it gets easier with time. Hang In…
June 5, 2011 at 2:56 pm
Like many of you, our dining out requires advanced planning for my 11 year old son with Asperger's. He is on a gluten-free diet, so we typically call ahead to verify that the restaurant has a gluten-free menu or can reasonably accommodate changes. We also go early so the sensory overload issue doesn't impact us too much. My son always brings along his 'bag' of things to do – paper, pencils, and a book from which to drawn. As long as we've prepared him well, our experiences are usually pretty positive. Not always, but usually.
June 10, 2011 at 12:47 pm
When dining out we'd give or son transition time to know, where we're going to eat as well as who he will be sitting with. If we didn't give him this transition time to process, we'd be physically carrying him inside kicking and screaming. Not a pretty sight, and can make our meal that much more unpleasant. Thank God he's grown out of this.
June 10, 2011 at 11:07 pm
Although going to a reatuarant used to be a daunting experience for me and my husband, I urge all of you to check out this app called "Going Places." The app is free and we've been using it and the other examples they have to offer to help show my moderatley functioning autistic son what the expected bx is supposed to be. It shows an actial child and not an animation to help make the "story" real.
There are other great examples to choose from as well such as shopping at the mall, getting a hair cut and the playground. These are perfect teachable moments we all look for and it's something you can share with your therapy team to check ot and use as well. Keep up the great work. You are your child's best teacher!
:) An inspired Mom in Palos Verdes Estates, California
June 14, 2011 at 9:24 am
This is a very nice thread. For several years, we had to do a lot of prep. Then, we had our ABA provider write programs for dining out and we worked our programs until my son got to the point where he could dine out without being over-stimulated. Today, we basically work on his manners and table etiquette, which can completely go out the window unless we reign it all in.
Thanks for all of the great tips here. I wrote a few of my own, but nothing beats just getting your child out there into society and trying.
My Tips on Dining Out
God Bless!
June 16, 2011 at 10:49 pm
My 5 year old only likes to go to a small handful of places, but for those occasions when he screams or acts up/out in other ways (like having a fit when the wait staff puts ice cubes in his drink, or makes the mistake of mixing yellow and blue tortilla chips on the same plate), I have business cards that say "I'm sorry if my child's behavior is disturbing you . . ." and gives more information about autism. I have left them on other diner's tables (if they have been staring or offering such valuable advice as "Someone needs a nap!"), or just include it with my credit card when it comes time to pay the bill. I have had very many positive remarks from waitstaff, and I think it really helps to spread awareness of the fact that what ight appear as rude behavior, is in fact our children's only way of dealing with the world.
June 20, 2011 at 8:06 am
Dining out provides a fabulous opportunity to learn social and communication skills. A little time spent planning ahead can make big changes in a student's behavior and his ability to participate. Choose from these twelve ideas to create positive dining experiences.
1. Collect photos or logos of your favorite restaurants
Make a little book of favorite places to eat. This will be a fabulous tool to talk about where you are going.
2. Ask restaurants for a menu to take home
Look at the menu to choose what you want to order before you go out. Preparing ahead helps students anticipate and rehearse the event. Practice ordering so they will be ready when it is their turn. (I find restaurants are very gracious about sharing their menus when I tell them why I want one.)
3. Write a little story about where you will go and what will happen
Taking a few moments to do this before you go out will prepare the student for what will happen. Tell them what to expect when they go.
4. Make a mini-schedule of your outing
Go in car, stand in line, sit down, order, wait, eat, pay the bill.
5. Visually tell the child where you will go after eating
You can put that information in the mini-schedule. Knowing what comes next can help students handle what is happening now.
6. Create some visual rules for going out to eat
Stay in your seat, keep your food on your plate, use a quiet voice, etc. Not too many rules. Just pick a couple of important ones to work on.
7. Bring something to do if you have to wait
Make sure that you bring something appropriate for the environment you will be in. Sometimes giving the student more than one choice works best. Of course, the choices are visual!
8. Bring a watch or timer
Measure time waiting for food or time in the restaurant.
9. Bring home a visual memory
A napkin, placemat, brochure, sales slip, etc. can promote conversation after going out. Put it in a little notebook book.
10. Bring a camera
Take a photo of something to remember. Try a photo of the food or someone sitting at the table. Perhaps the front of the restaurant or something interesting inside like a fish tank or play equipment will be memorable.
11.Write a story
Write about where you went and what you did. Reviewing after an event is a great way to build communication skills. You can do this for students who are verbal. But it can also be effective for students who do not talk. Just make it simple.
12. Put your visual memory, picture and/or story in your little notebook
Use that information to review the next time you go out to eat.
July 4, 2011 at 10:14 pm
My little boy Evan is 3 he will turn 4 in september .we got his diagnosis about 5 months ago . We have all together avoided eating out with him at all . He can not sit still for to long and doesn't underhand yet that he has to wait for them to make the food.so we always bring the food home where he's comfortable. He is non verbal still so its not known if he really understand what we are telling him.but I must say we are starting small with him by taking him to the dollar store or so stores where we are in and out so he gets the exposure but its not to much at once. He's on the mild side of the spectrum. He is the greatest blessing we have ever been giving. I just want to know any suggestions for the newbies parents and the younger kids like my son because we are still learning ourselves.
July 26, 2011 at 9:28 pm
It's taken time for us to go out to eat with our son. I recently wrote a post about this topic on my blogsite – AutismWonderland