Posted by Lyrical13 on January 20, 2004, at 0:07:20
In reply to Re: real time dialogue » Lyrical13, posted by femlite on January 18, 2004, at 13:00:25
Hello
This is so great. I look forward to answers to all my posts but I have started to especially look forward to your posts. We do sound a lot alike. My hubby is going back to school. He has been a mold maker (makes metal molds to make plastic parts to cars...we're in Michigan... very much ruled by the auto industry) The last four years have been horrible for him job-wise. He has been laid off since May this time. He has been wanting to go back to school. He was thinking about being a special ed teacher but the education looked daunting. It does take forever. I thought of the ideal job for him. He loves to work with his hands..at the end of the day to be able to say "I made that". He also is interested in working with special needs kids. I am a speech therapist at a school for kids with disabilities. He has volunteered for field trips and special olympics events at my school. One day it hit me.. He could work in wheelchair seating or orthotics. Those are the plastic braces that kids wear on their legs, splints/braces for arms, plastic body jackets for kids with cerebral palsy to give them trunk support, etc. That field would combine the whole "making things" aspect and the special ed aspect. Definitely would have job security. So I talked to the orthotics guy when he was at school the last time and found out what kind of education hubby would need to do this. Now he is very excited and gung ho. We both think this is the perfect career for him. Don't know how we'll manage financially but we'll work something out. He helped me get through grad school (emotionally and financially) so now it's my turn to help him.As far as my classes go, to be an SLP (speech-language pathologist) you have to have a master's degree. I already have that. Now I am working on my +30 which is 30 credits beyond the master's. ONce I get that I will go up to the next (and last) pay level. I am working on it a little at a time as I am able. I took my first online course last summer (2 credits). I was signed up for one this fall, but when the depression started creeping in around Aug. I cancelled it b/c I knew it would be too overwhelming. I am thinking of taking my next class in June. Maybe I can even get two in this summer. I am taking courses in assistive technology/augmentative communication. That is one of my big interest areas in my field. Aug. comm. is basically any adaptations or assistive technology needed for people who have difficulty communicating to be able to communicate. I work with severely multiply impaired kids, various cognitive impairments and lots of students with autism. Many of them are non-verbal. So my challenge is to find some way for them to learn how to communicate.
Anyway, re: Ambien. I found it to be the best thing for sleep so far, and it was great if I took it by about 11 or 12 PM but if it was past then it was iffy. Sometimes half of one was OK. I tend to be very sensitive to meds...often need only pediatric doses. (though I have maxed out several ADs..go figure) I always ask for the lowest dose of a med possible to start at least. And then when I can, I take half of that!
I was feeling really crappy (physically) earlier. I had to get a crown at the dentist mon afternoon and the anesthetic did a number on me...felt dizzy, heart raced, kinda woozy and exhausted. I fell asleep watching TV. Probably got about 3 hours in. Then went up to bed and tossed and turned for a while before deciding to come downstairs for a bit. Hopefully I'll get tired soon. I had a bowl of cereal cause I was starving. Mouth was still numb at dinner time so I only had soup. It feels better now and not as sore since I took the Aleve with my evening meds. I don't know about you but I feel like such an old lady sometimes. I have a whole handful of meds I take each night! The handful includes a couple vitamins, but still!
Well, I'm gonna check a couple more e-mails and then try to sleep again. If that doesn't work then I'll try the new Pilates workout I bought the other night and see if that will tire/relax me. Definitely will talk to doc Tues re: sleep med.
poster:Lyrical13
thread:301939
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20040109/msgs/303024.html