No matter what disability one might have, Able Sail believe we can all enjoy sailing.
Lately, many new people have started to follow Lessons from my daughter, I am humbled that so many have decided to read about our journey and at the same time, increase the very small percentage of people who have heard of Cri du chat syndrome.
If you are new to our blog and want to learn more about Emily’s diagnosis, please try those links:
Introduction to Cri du Chat syndrome!
Every spring, we look at things to do for Emily during the summer.
It’s not as simple for us as it is for parents of other 17 years old teenager. We can’t let her use one of the car to go to her job or spend time with her friends. We are not planning her going away to college or university…
Since Emily has been 12, she’s been too old for day care and summer programs while being too young mentally for camps and programs for kids 12 years and older.
We found ourselves in a really strange place…
Jonathan worked part-time to stay home for Emily for awhile than moved into an overnight schedule so Emily could be home during the day, while he would try to sleep!
Try being the key word!
Emily has grown older and learned valuable life skills over the summer months but we feel guilty that she’s not socializing and participating in activities… allowing her so much free time has a down side… so much time watching tv, listening to music and playing with her dolls… little stimulation, little learning opportunities.
What are parents supposed to do when their child is too old for day programs but too young for the programs she’s old enough for…?
Quite a conundrum!
This year, we made some changes, Jonathan is now working from home during the afternoon and evening which allowed him to wake-up with us in the morning and spend time with Emily when I went to work.
Emily continued her tutoring over the summer months (we are not forcing her, she loves it), she joined a new cheer team, continued baseball, joined the summer program at GMACL and started to sail!
Yes, we’ve put Emily into sailing!
I had heard about Able Sail in previous years and talked to Emily about it but she wasn’t interested!
This year, she said yes! And she loved it!
Could you imagine a better place to spend some time over the summer months?
Jonathan loves fishing and boats… so this was a perfect activity for them to do as opposed of Emily and I.
Look at my girl! She’s learning about sailing and loving it!
If you are interested to learn more about Able Sail, have a look at their website here : Able Sail
I hope you can find something similar in your part of the world!
With fall around the corner and school starting next week, we say goodbye to sailing, baseball and the summer program at GMACL and we are excited that cheer is continuing and that horseback riding will be starting again for the fall season!
I can’t type fast enough to tell you about all the wonderful things we’ve done this summer.
Lessons from my daughter 
Reblogged this on Lessons from my daughter and commented:
One year later…. Emily started sailing again and still loves it even when it rains, which happened last week!
Just been reading some of you posts about your daughter it’s very inspiring. Working special needs students I know that it is some times the effort the parents put in that makes the difference. I’m also jealous I didn’t get to go sailing this summer!
Thank you Eric. From the get go, we barely had therapies and lived away from family so we had to jump in and do our best, learning along the way, the give Emily her best chance at finding her potential. She’s 17 now and we are do proud of the young lady she’s becoming. We still face many challenges but are really positive about it all. Thank you for reading! And thank you for choosing a career as a teacher for kids with special needs. I’m sure you mean the world to some of your students and their parents.
Thanks but mines easy compared to you I go home at 5pm
I come home around 5pm too 🙂 just kidding. I get what you mean but people like you make my days so much easier!
You guys must have had a wonderful time sailing!! 😊👍
Emily and Jonathan really enjoyed it. They are already looking forward to joining again next year!
That’s so awesome for you guys! Look at that smile! Says it all!
It has to be on her own terms. Wants she decides to do something, she’s all in and having a blast. This was so good for her and their staff was awesome, chatting with her and making her feel like she belonged there 🙂
That’s very cool! 🙂
That’s so great to hear. Sailing! How fun. The things we do for our kids no matter what! Emily is so blessed she has you both as parents 😉
Thank you. I think the 3 of us are blessed to have found each other. We are doing everything we can to give her the best life she can have while she’s pushing us to better ourselves! It’s win-win all around!
I was thinking that same thing as I hit send 🙂