What can I say about this week...it has been one of learning to accept and cope, reminicing with old friends, and of course, responsibility of time management, or the lack of.

I had planned to have a very enjoyable week this week. My client was going to church camp, so I wouldn't be working. I thought of things I could do and finally decided that it would be in my best interest to do something where I would have access of the internet whenever I needed, so I decided to spend the majority of the weekend with my grandparents. While I was there, I really got a chance to catch up with things that had been going on; my grandmother and I always, for as long as I can remember, catch up over a game of cards During our games, the topics were mainly my grandfather's health and all the new pills the doctors have him on, my grandmother's blood count, etc. These types of conversations have taken place for nearly three years now; it is really sad that when people grow older that their lives usually revolve around medical issues and encounters. During the week, my grandmother and I went to the cancer center to have her blood count read; normally, it is very low. Numerous tests have been ran, but no confirmation has been determined; there has been a concern that she could have Leukoplakia(not too sure on the spelling). However, this time, her count was up to 3.5. Now, that still isn't normal, but it is the best result we have received in a long time, so we thank God for this!

On a sadder note, Thursday, one of the greatest men I have ever known past away. He was my friend, Libby's(I have mentioned her before) grandfather. Until I was probably twelve years old, I didn't realize that he wasn't my own grandfather. I have called him "Poppy" since the very first day I met him; a day that was so long ago, I cannot even remember when it was. Last night, I had to say good-bye to him; that was very difficult. Not only was that hard, but just to look in Granny's eyes, as well as many of the other family members, was almost more than I could take. After the wake last night, my parents and I went back to Libby's house. While we were there, so many people that I haven't seen in so long came up; it was really nice to see all of their faces and to hear about how their lives had changed since I had seen them last.

Moving on, I found time to get a lot of my work completed, edited, and replaced. I have addressed in a previous journal that one of the things I liked most about the way this class is conducted is that we have the flexibility to modify and change our subscriptions as often as we need to. However, I am started to doubt that comment. I am constantly trying to figure out what I can do to make the genre better, even if that means replacing it, which is yielding to a lot more work. No seriously, I really do like the flexibility being able to change our work; I just feel I probably need to be more selective when choosing a genre. With that in mind, I hope it is ok for now, but I am a little torn in between two of my genres; these consist of the journal and the lesson plan, so right now, I have seven genres. I promise, by Wednesday, I will eliminate one of the two. Also, I created two powerpoint presentations. The one I have posted is the one that just informs about Asperger Syndrome. The other is a mother's perspective; it is incomplete, but I think it my end up being better in the end; therefore, I may be making some changes next week.

In concern to the peer response, I must be honest in saying, at first, I thought it was a horrible idea. I don't like giving critism when I cannot see the person, because you never know how they will take it. Also, I was worried that I would write something, and when one of my group members read the comments, they would misconstrue what I was actually trying to express. However, the comments have really been beneficial. It is so easy to look over a mistake, such as a typo, and no matter how many times you read over it, continue to over look it. By doing these peer responses, I have gained six others eyes. Also, the suggestions, although I haven't used may of them "yet", and I emphasize yet, have been very helpful. Now, I have a much better view on the peer responses and no longer fear giving constructive criticism.

Overall, I feel that my MRP is really developing well. I am starting to feel a little proud of my accomplishments thus far. I know that with more work, thought, and time, my project will get better; there is always more for improvement, especially since I can't make up my mind which genres and powerpoint presentation I want to use.

The only question I have for this week, concerns what I wrote about earlier in my journal, and that is whether or not it is okay to have seven genres at this time until I can determine which one I should use?

Also, I read your comment about the journal, and I know that we have to submit two journals, but I got busy with something else. I probably shouldn't have submitted it; sorry about the confusion:)

This has been a pretty good week. Since my forensic class is over, I am finding that I
have a lot more time to get my assignments done as well as a little leisure time. I have
always had a deep love for forensic type work; at one point in my life, I thought about
majoring in forensics. However, I thought that I would enjoy this line of work better.
Unlike in my CD classes, forensics just seems to come as second nature to me. I can
spend hours trying to figure a case out or do an experiment without being concerned
about how much time has elapsed. It is for this reason, I always question if I chose to be
in the right field of study. My mom has tried to reassure me that I am having doubts,
because I am in my senior year and I know that I will probably be a speech pathologist
until the day I graduate. She has always told me that I enjoy my forensics class so much,
because it is a break away from the CD classes; maybe, this that is the case. Hopefully, she is right!

I have really been working a lot with my client. Yesterday, we went to Camden Park. I haven't been there in years, and I probably won't go there again for a very long time, if ever. My client wanted to ride the Sky(something); I don't really recall the name of it. Since the ride had to be balanced a certain way, I had to ride in a cart with a man, a very crazy man! There is a steering wheel in the ride that you can control; well, the man I was with controlled it and nearly killed me. First, my money came out of my pockets. Then, the side of my head slammed against the cage, leaving a big knot. To beat it all, when the ride stopped, I thought the man was being nice by picking up my money; however, once I finally got out of the cage, he and my money were gone. It wasn't a lot of money, but it is the priniciple; he was a total jerk!Today, I am covered with big bruises on my both of my legs, one of my arms, and one on the left side of my head; I look like someone has beaten me up or something.

Now, in regards to the class, a quick run down to this week's tasks. Early in the week, I submitted my research bibliography; I have really been finding a lot
of informative sites. I also did some other tasks that were not part of this week’s
assignments but really needed to be taken care of. For instance, I spent time a
great deal of time trying to organize and fix my webliography; it still isn’t the exact way I
want it, but it is definitely getting closer. In addition, I changed some of my genres. One
thing I decided to do was make the poem be written by the mother rather than the child; I
feel this really helped to tie things together better. Also, instead of using a newsletter
from the mother, I chose to delete the newsletter all together, replacing with a pamphlet. The reason for this is that I feel that I can use the pamphlet as part of the introduction for the MRP. Another change I may make is to replace the lesson plan with a journal or story from the child with Asperger Syndrome. Originally, I wanted to, first, present the lesson plan and then show how it should be modified to meet the needs of the individual with Asperger Syndrome. However, I am now working on a new approach that I feel will work out better after talking to a few professionals. Instead of addressing what we should now about the Asperger Syndrome, I am going to focus more on accepting. I kind of
know what I want to do, but my new angle is still a little rough.

When working on my genres for this week, I created a really nice pamphlet; however,
when I added it to my webliography, it is completely different. I am really proud with
how my poem turned out. To create it, I took words from a mother of a child with
Asperger Syndrome and words from my mother since she works one-on-one with a client with this diagnosis. I found out earlier this term that I am an aural learning, and I really
agree with the results; although I have read all of this material, talking to my mother
really caused a light bulb to glow brighter.

My goals for this week are to try to tie this all together and once and for all find the angle
I want to approach, so I won’t have to keep modifying my project. Also, this week, I found out that it is "Asperger Syndrome" rather than "Asperger's Syndrome", so I need to edit all of my entries.My question for this week concerns the pamphlet. Is there a way to present my pamphlet in my webliography to appear the way I created it rather than looking like a really poor excuse of an outline?

This week has been a catch up week for me; I feel like I am a day late and a dollar behind. I have worked really hard this week on my forensics, doing some finishing touches. I thought that I would be finished with that class on Friday; however, since I had to miss on Thursday due to an illness, my teacher suggested on Friday, that I wait until Monday to take the final. He said that the class reviewed extensively on Thursday, as well as covering new material, so I would probably have difficulty answering numerous questions. It suggested that I copy a fellow classmates notes, so that is exactly what I did. I have been going over the notes, and some are really hard to follow, because they aren't my own; however, I am very grateful to Christina and Chad for sharing their notes. In addition, I am very appreciative to Dr. Little for allowing me to make up my test tomorrow.

I have really enjoyed the assignments this week; I am finally starting to see some progress on my MRP, and it is all starting to come together better for me. Some of the assignments addressed in week for concerned the credibility of internet sites. I really think this was a very important topic to address, because there are some many unreliable sites available to us on the net; now, we will, at least, know what to look for to determine if the site is factual.

On Tuesday, we met in class to discuss Power Point and questions and concerns we may be having. I had never done Power Point prior to Tuesday's meeting, and I think I am really going to enjoy it. Also, I have chose to use a Power Point Presentation to integrate my project.

When I first looked at the agenda for week 5, I thought, "Wow, only six assignments!" However, those six assignments consisted of more time than probably any of the other weeks, with the exception of week 1. The genres are very time consuming. When I was working on my genres, I really didn't know what approach I wanted to take. Finally, I decided that the one I would submit for this week would be a lesson plan from a teacher. (I chose to use a lesson plan, because I want to use it to show how it needs to be modified to fit the needs of an Asperger child). I have not posted my second genre to my webliography yet, because I am still working on it.

On Thursday, I received approval from a parent of an Asperger child that I may interview her son. I plan on doing this interview, either at the end of the week or the beginning of the following week. I have met this boy before; however, it was just in passing and I didn't really pay too close attention to some of the behaviors he exhibits. So, I am really looking forward to this interview; it should be really interesting.

Through having this type of class, one thing I have really welcomed is the flexibility. Not the flexibility of time management, although that has been really nice, but the flexibility to modify or change parts of our projects. Typically, in other classes, you submit a paper, project, etc. and if you are anything like me, ten seconds later, you think of a way that would have made it even better. In this class, if we come across a better idea, we just have to edit; so, that has been really nice.

I have had one major problem this week, and it concerns posting assignments to the class list. My "post" option is no longer available from the yahoo groups page, so I tried to send it from my direct e-mail, but it will not post to the class list, because my e-mails are "bouncing." So, I have all these assignments saved, yet cannot post them. I have sent an e-mail to Yahoo to see if they can direct me, but I haven't received a response. I have just checked my e-mail again, and Mrs. McComas has informed me that I am probably no longer a member since I had planned on changing my address. So, I think everything will be fine once I e-mail her the address I am using, so I can be added to the list again; WHEW!:)