Thunderbucks

If you're the parent of one of our students here, you may have had your son or daughter come home talking about Thunderbucks and you may be wondering exactly what a Thunderbuck is. Here at LEC, students have the option of helping out with afternoon chores around the school--sweeping up the main room, stacking chairs, emptying garbage cans, and such. In return, students are paid in Thunderbucks that they can spend in a student store of sorts we've set up in our upstairs offices. Thunderbucks can be used to purchase healthful snacks, toys, headphones, batteries, school supplies, and other items, and students earn one Thunderbuck for each chore they participate in.

Most students don't seem to participate in it for what they can purchase, though. Many of our students never spend the Thunderbucks they earn, and students seem to appreciate the recognition for a job well-done that a Thunderbuck represents. Many students have opted to "donate" theirs to the Oregon Humane Society, with the school making a donation of one dollar for every Thunderbuck the students contribute. Additionally, the program director has agreed to match students contributions dollar for dollar. So far this year, this amounts to over $100 that the students have raised!

Spring Break

LEC will be closed the last full week of March (the 22nd through 26th) for Spring Break. This Friday, March 19, will be an early release day. Students will have an early lunch and then be heading home at 11:30. If you have any questions, give us a call at 503-771-7508, and have a great break!

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Here at LEC we have several students on the autism spectrum, and we'd like to recommend a novel to those of you interested in seeing the world through the eyes of a teen on the spectrum. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a 2003 novel written by Mark Haddon that is told from the first person perspective of a fifteen year-old high-functioning autistic boy.

In the novel, the teen, Christopher Boone, attempts to solve the murder of a neighbor's dog. However, as Christopher pursues his detective work, the story takes surprising turns in which Christopher must come to grips with his family's history. Along the way, Christopher describes his way of seeing the world, discussing everything from why he loves numbers to why seeing four cars in a row of a specific color can either make it a Very Good or Very Bad Day. Rarely has a novel provided reader's with such insight to what is often an otherwise enigmatic way of viewing the world.

We highly recommend it for any parent or adult looking to understand how the world may appear to someone diagnosed with autism or with Asperger's Syndrome in particular.