Work and Fun on a Beautiful Day

The grandsons had a holiday off school today for Professional Development, so we decided since it was such a beautiful day, we'd do a bit of work in the yard. The boys enjoy helping and it allows them to learn about seasonal outdoor household chores.


The garden that we just cleaned out needed an edging. I would have liked to have bought landscaping bricks to match the garden closer to the door, but since that is out of the question right now, we decided to use some bricks that match the house.

Above, Brandon is taking care of Dakota and Jordan is carrying bricks. Grandpa is digging the border to insert the bricks.

Now it's Brandon's turn to carry the bricks while Jordan looks after Dakota and Grandpa is placing the edging.

Dakota is getting strong and almost too much for Jordan to control, but we let him take a shot at it and he didn't do too badly. Dakota needs a Gent*le Lead*er like Meeko had, but Meeko's is still too big for him and we haven't been able to find one that will fit him.

Here is the flower bed and the edging is pretty much in place. Mmm! I must step outdoors and make sure hubby picked up the shovel. If not, tomorrow we won't have it.

After the work was done, the boys took Dakota to the park across the street. They put him on the long lead we bought him last week and took the ball along.

It was a beautiful day and the boys tired Dakota out for me. He's been a very well-behaved and quiet puppy tonight. I know that if he doesn't get enough exercise he will be hyper and so hubby and I really need to get him out more. I did help a bit with the edging by carrying a few bricks and letting hubby know when the bricks weren't staying in proper porportion. Supervisor, I think it's called.

Yesterday I posted about the young autistic man in Newfoundland who was arrested when the police thought he was intoxicated. There were a couple of questions that I'd like to address:

First of all is Dawn's. She asked, Didn't they make him take a sobriety test?

Dawn, the paper said that the young man wouldn't let them smell his breath. It didn't state if he was given a breathalizer when he got to the station, so I can't answer your question. I suspect they did because that is the usual procedure, but can't be sure. They certainly had no grounds to hold him.

The second question came from Hootin' Anni. She asked, But, I need to ask, just what kind of training it would be to differentiate?

Anni, apparently this must have happened before because the Newfoundland Constablary had contacted the Autism Society a few weeks ago and asked for help in training their officers in the symptoms of autism. That is now in the works. As far as Downs Syndrome, I'm not sure how officers could be trained to recognize it, but that is another disorder they need to be able to recognize.

Dawn, your comment about the autistic boy who was so violent that he killed his mother made me sad. That young man should have been given some help to overcome his violent tendencies. This goes to show you how those affected by autism fall through the cracks. He should have been in a group home or other facility where he could have been treated.

My point here is that Dane was not given his rights when he was arrested. First of all, the police didn't understand the symptoms of autism. Then, they denied him his right to a phone call when they took him to the station. This is a right that all Canadian citizens are entitled to. If it had been me or any "normal" (I hate that word) person, we would have been granted that phone call, but because this young man was different and they didn't understand him, he wasn't granted his rights.

Thank you all for the questions. I hope I answered them to your satisfaction and promoted Autism Awareness. Have a great weekend. ~Blessings, Mary~