The Bouncy Castle in Space

Kitty Pryde

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Aw, well done son! :) it took me a very long time to figure out the mystery of other children too. very happy for him!
 

sissybaby

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Judy - I can't tell you how much your post touched me. I'm so happy that your son has found a friend and was able to manage such a huge task. I can't imagine a week away from home.

My 11 yo is on the spectrum, and I worry daily about his inability to make friends his own age. He's always alone on the playground. He just does not GET other kids. But he's amazing with adults. He's a much more gracious host than I could ever be. He has a crazy sense of humor. He's compassionate with the elderly and they all love him. But day camp is so stressful that he spends the day wandering the halls (even though they promised they wouldn't allow him to do that this year, he's still doing it). And he always has to be in charge of everything.

Now you've offered me a grain of hope that it may eventually change. He's managed to make a few friends, but they've always moved away too far for them to see each other.

So thanks for sharing that. And congratulate your son on a major accomplishment.

P.S. I hear you about the eating. If my son went away with someone for a week he'd come home much lighter.
 

MsJudy

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sissy, I do hope things get easier for your son. It's so hard for us parents. There are some things we just can't fix for our kids. They have to figure it out for themselves.

I was really worried about junior high bullying, because he'd make a perfect target: long hair, glasses, short, will only wear sweatpants, has a skin condition that makes his pigment all spotty. But surprisingly, that's been the easiest part for him to cope with. So much so, that he's now "coaching" the other geeky kids on how to zing their tormentors with one liners!

Bully: Hey, nerd.
Geek: Well, at least I'll have a job.

Bully: (to kid carrying a gym bag instead of a backpack) Cool purse! I'll pay you five bucks to let me take your picture.
Geek: Like you have that kind of money.
 

that redhead

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Wow, Judy. Yay to your son!! That's such excellent news. He sounds so much like mine. Always preferred grownups to kids, had a tough time making friends, has to share every single detail of Minecraft or whatever else he's playing, won't eat typical kid food, reads all the time, hates noise, spent most of his time alone, etc. etc. etc.

Then, when he began middle school, he wanted to go to one of the "super smart" charter schools that's way across town. I got him in and did all the driving. And now, he's got a small circle of friends and is actually socializing with them. He's also embraced the word "geek" and is proud of how unique he is.

Yay for our kids who are wonderfully different!
 

Morrell

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Aw, thanks for the sympathy and hugs, you guys. Just heard from another one saying she's swamped and needs more time. I like that response much better, and am now trying to type with fingers crossed.

Nice to hear about quirky sons finding friends and happiness. I've been there too, with my two. They certainly do surprise you sometimes, don't they?

My 18-year-old daughter and I saw Brave today. It is wonderful! I hope it's a huge hit and sends a message to the studios that a girl heroine without a prince can succeed at the box office.
 

scarecrow

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MsJudy
Your son sounds like he'd be a good match for my kids, but beware they are geek girls. My oldest had problems fitting in starting in fifth but by eighth she'd found a group of girls as geeky, interesting and talented as herself. Half of them are going to different high schools now unfortunately, but I am no longer worried about her.

Geeks will rule the world.
 

Smish

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Bully: Hey, nerd.
Geek: Well, at least I'll have a job.

Bully: (to kid carrying a gym bag instead of a backpack) Cool purse! I'll pay you five bucks to let me take your picture.
Geek: Like you have that kind of money.

:roll:
 

Sage

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Cheering you all on!
Judy, that's great about your son! I'm glad he could do it and have fun :D And I love the one-liners
 

sissybaby

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It's great to know he's not alone. It's just finding others to relate to that worry me.

But I had some wonderful news today. Just someone being super kind and it made me feel very good. But also guilty.

I bought my son an erector remote control car at a garage sale up in KC a while back. He begged for it and rarely asks for anything, and he loves the legos so much that I knew he would put it together. And it was only $5.00. They assured me that they'd bought it for their grandson, who was only five, and it was too hard - well, yeah, it says 8 to 15 right on the box. But they said all the parts were there and it looked pretty complete (5 billion little pieces of metal) so I bought it for him.

Him and Dad sat down and went through all the pieces, and 48 were missing. I couldn't find any phone number that would work so I looked them up on line and discovered that a lot of different companies have built those things over the years. I also found the same model on ebay for $275.00! Holy cow. Can't buy that for parts.

So I finally figured out who had made these - said someplace in France, and I emailed them. Told them what I'd done and how many parts were missing and asked if they could tell me where to purchase replacements. He replied by sending me the owner's manual and parts lists, which I already had, thank you, and said for just a few parts he could help me if I would tell him which parts I needed.

So I just copied all the parts down and replied with another email. Then he said normally they couldn't do anything without an invoice, but as a favor to my son he would send the parts.

He got them yesterday in the mail, from Hong Kong, and I feel bad because the customs list says he paid almost $10.00 in postage, but there are no identifying marks as to what address it came from. So I'm going to email again and at least offer to pay for them and the postage.

But now he can put the thing together. Since he is so fast at it, I'm considering hiding a few of the parts for a few days just to slow him up.

anyway, he's a happy kid tonight.
 

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Sissy, stories like that give us all hope for the future. Corporate culture doesn't have to be inhuman, after all!
 

Morrell

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Oh, Sissy, that is so nice!

Sissy and Judy, do they have FIRST Robotics near you? It was a lifesaver for my sons, who both tended to live very much in their heads and obsess on things that made other people's eyes glaze over. Through robotics, they made friends, learned social skills, teamwork, and sportsmanship. It helped them channel all that intellect in a positive direction. It allowed others to appreciate their admittedly quirky talents. My middle kid (now 20) is an electrical engineering student at a top college due to scholarships he got through FIRST. He still mentors his high school team and keeps in touch with the coaches. Just a thought if they seem inclined in that direction. From the legos, Minecraft, philosophical attitude, etc it sounds like they could be cut out of similar cloth. ;)
 

that redhead

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Oh, Sissy, that is so nice!

Sissy and Judy, do they have FIRST Robotics near you? It was a lifesaver for my sons, who both tended to live very much in their heads and obsess on things that made other people's eyes glaze over. Through robotics, they made friends, learned social skills, teamwork, and sportsmanship. It helped them channel all that intellect in a positive direction. It allowed others to appreciate their admittedly quirky talents. My middle kid (now 20) is an electrical engineering student at a top college due to scholarships he got through FIRST. He still mentors his high school team and keeps in touch with the coaches. Just a thought if they seem inclined in that direction. From the legos, Minecraft, philosophical attitude, etc it sounds like they could be cut out of similar cloth. ;)

My son's in FIRST Robotics! He spent two years in First Lego League, then moved up to First Tech Challenge for the past school year. I totally agree with what you said, Ruth. It's been great for him.
 

sissybaby

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Ruth - I've never heard of this, but I will certainly check it out. It would be an amazing group for him to become a part of from the sounds of it. Thanks so much for the information.
 

MsJudy

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The high school has a top-notch robotics team--they won an international competition 2 years ago. They've just started a team at the junior high, and I think he plans to join in 8th grade.
 

MsJudy

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You probably need to convince a faculty member to sponsor/organize it. Or maybe a local business member could... Know any friendly engineers?
 

Morrell

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Sissy, I'll PM you with a contact who might be able to tell you how to go about it.

ETA: And, yes, what Judy said.
 
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So my girlfriend's youngest brother just got his SAT score back for Biology and he got a perfect 800/800.
 

sissybaby

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MsJudy - I have a friend who is an engineer and works for Spirit - he design airplane parts. but he probably wouldn't do it. He's building his own house and his own grandkids keep him very busy.

But I'm going to check with the school principal and see if he knows anything about it, and if not, if he'll check in to it and help me get something started. And I bought my house from the HS science teacher's husband, so she and I have a good relationship. But she's more into the biology side of things.

I just think it sounds like a great opportunity and hate to let it pass by.

Thanks for all the info and advice. And congrats to your near relative, king. That's pretty impressive.
 

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We do lego robotics through 4H. We found a club that offered it and joined the project, then after a year, my daughter decided to offer to help lead the project herself.

It's been awesome. I am sooooo not a technical person, but through sheer grit and determination, we figured this Lego Mindstorms thing out. The kids are kind of intuitive about it.

We set our own challenges - you can find tons online. It's a good way to start, and to learn. If your kid knows other tech-minded kids, I'd suggest buy a kit for them and let them at it. You can also find tutorials on the internet.

Mindstorms is pricey (best prices are invariably on amazon), but you can get the earlier versions used on eBay at a far better price. The earlier versions have different stuff, but you can add on, such as new and different sensors.

If kids are older, it's great to work in a group, for younger kids, groups tend to frustrate them and either one kid takes over, or someone quits, so we have a lot of our less mature/younger kids working on their own/with a parent. I'd say if a kid is techie minded and over 10, they can figure out a lot themselves, and if you have two of them together, with internet access for ideas and solutions, they can have a lot of fun with it. And, if you have someone you know who is familiar with MIndstorms and can start them off and help them out when they get stuck, they'll take off even faster with it.

My 7 yo has managed a heck of a lot just by trial and error. He builds and rebuilds models all the time and programs them to do different things. My older kids are more into following actual challenges, which they set at 4H.

So, it doesn't have to be an organized group. If you have just two kids who are into it, they can do their own challenges for themselves. It's a good option if there isn't an organized group near you. :)
 

sissybaby

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Britwriter - thanks for the info.

Wow. I looked it up on their website. Under products for Mindstorm it only brought up one item but I'm not sure i understood it. But it is far more advanced than anything he's attempted. Last thing I got him was a Technic (I think that's what it's called). It's a remote control vehicle that he had to build. But it only took him a few hours. I need something to occupy him longer for the investment.

I still think he'd love this. I'm going to check with my nephew. He's a teacher and is also into all the latest gadgets. Maybe he can direct me to someone, although he's also in the KC area, which is too far for us to go on a regular basis.

Now you've all got me hooked on this idea and I can't let it go.
 

Britwriter

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Mindstorms 2 is the most recent version. It includes several sensors - light, color, ultrasonic and touch. It's the brick, ie the electronic part that you program from your computer, that makes it expensive. Amazon almost always has the best prices, and occasionally they drop it for a few days or weeks. It's hard to get it used, as it's pretty recent.

Mindstorms 1 was the older version. Different sensors, less sophisticated. But, it has some stuff that Mindstorms 2 does not, such as a sound sensor. You can get Mindstorms 1 on eBay much more easily.

It is pricey. But, it is somethign that kids can use from very young, if they are so inclined, right up to high school, college and beyond. If they are geeky, they often want to use it as adults. ;)

My kids were thrilled when a friend told them that they had incorporated a part of a program into their challenge that he'd had to learn as part of his college course in university. As time goes on, kids are going to get more and more accomplished at this stuff. There is a boy in our 4H project who does amazing stuff using a compass sensor, explaining all sorts of college level physics through his challenge. He lost me within a few minutes of his demonstration!

One thing I've found is that very soon, kids want more pieces to go with the kit, as in, lego parts to make their models more complex. The good news is that you can buy batches of lego parts on the internet, used, for very little. I bought a big bag of connectors, bricks etc for about twelve bucks, so now nobody fights over the small pieces. And, I don't panic if one goes up the vaccuum cleaner.

So, I don't see it as a 'toy', but as a tool that the kids will use for years, and make more complex as they grow older. For a kid who is only marginally interested in this stuff, it's probably not worth it. But for a kid who is intense about math, science, electronics, building, engineering, it's an absolute lifesaver. My 7yo joined the robotics project at 6, the youngest kid to do so, and it was amazing how much he could do and how much he learned in a short time. I know he'll still be doing stuff with his Mindstorms when he's college age. It's been a great investment for him.

The only thing I'd say about groups of kids is that they need to be well-matched. Sibling groups can be problematic, as often the older sibling takes over, and the younger ones become the worker bees. But, if you have a geeky kid with a geeky friend, they can have hours and hours of intense fun and learning, and never seem to get bored with it.

The lego challenges and teams are great, but in my experience, a lot of quirky kids prefer to do challenges either alone, or with a friend. My kids didn't want the pressure of a team challenge, but they love the informal challenges at their project, where often you are just challenging yourself. For example, how fast can I get my robot to navigate a board and collect x number of objects?

Not to say I haven't wanted to throw the darn robot out the window on many occasions! You have to have patience, as it can be frustrating and at times, it can be flaky. But, the kids seem to cope with the frustration better than some of the adults. ;)
 

Britwriter

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Britwriter - thanks for the info.

Wow. I looked it up on their website. Under products for Mindstorm it only brought up one item but I'm not sure i understood it. But it is far more advanced than anything he's attempted. Last thing I got him was a Technic (I think that's what it's called). It's a remote control vehicle that he had to build. But it only took him a few hours. I need something to occupy him longer for the investment.

I still think he'd love this. I'm going to check with my nephew. He's a teacher and is also into all the latest gadgets. Maybe he can direct me to someone, although he's also in the KC area, which is too far for us to go on a regular basis.

Now you've all got me hooked on this idea and I can't let it go.

If your nephew or another older kid lives nearby, I'd just get them together and let them figure it out. From my experience, older teens and enthusiastic young adults, usually boys, but not always, tend to figure it out together. If they are competent on the internet, they will find answers. And after a few basic instructions, they seem to figure out the next step.

Building with the kit is easy, and if they can do lego technic, they can do mindstorms. It's pretty much the same, just with the cables to plug into the brick. The programming is the part they might need a little help with at first. It's really drag and drop blocks, which you then download to your robot, telling it what to do. Again, you can find tutorials on youtube etc.

My 7 yo can make it do all kinds of stuff. He's better with just creating, and not a challenge set by someone else. But that's the way he's learning all the things it can do. He's taught himself more from just playing with it than kids I know who've been to expensive Lego Robotics classes and summer camps, where they just seem to learn the very basic programming, and not a lot more.
 

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I agree with Britwriter about letting the kids just figure it out. My son took an after-school class in Legos Robotics. He had fun, but because it was fairly structured/directed, I don't think he realized all the potential things he could do. He's never asked for a set of his own, but if he does join the robotics club next year, I may get him a set for Christmas.

Meanwhile, his Minecraft refinery just got three new storage tanks... guess that's a good thing...

Interesting how so many of our kids fit this same geeky profile, no?