Back to School

I start back to classes on Monday. I already feel overwhelmed.
Not so much by the subject matter but with the multitasking of managing assignments from several classes. Remembering to do assignments. I still don't feel like I have a good organization/scheduling system and this causes me stress.

On top of all that I need to put my child into daycare while I'm in class. This has not been an easy task. The childcare at school was supposedly full unless he went five days a week.  He's not ready for five days a week yet and he has to go to speech therapy one of those days anyway. I believe both my ex and I have Asperger's so it's likely that my son has it also. I think he does because he seems to have issues with coping with change and seems to like things in his environment "just so".

I think I'm going to try an organizer I can put papers in and has a calendar, so if you need me I'll be trolling the office supply stores this weekend. Woohoo....

Technology

It seems to me there should be more technology out there to help people with Asperger's.
Yes, there's PDA's and watches with alarms. I saw one that even puts a little preset message on the screen to remind you what the alarm is for Watch Minder. Maybe there's even apps out there. I don't have a smartphone to know if there is. I also found a software program SymTrend which tracks and reminds patients with various condition, including Asperger's, but for me it really isn't relevant to the issues I'm dealing with. I don't need to be reminded to brush my teeth, I need to be reminded to make a phone call to my kid's teacher. Also, most of these products seem to be geared toward children, like it's a juvenile condition you grow out of when you reach adulthood. I continue to look for something that will aid me with my short-term memory issues.

Finances

I really struggle with budgets and keeping track of finances. Remembering to pay bills on time. Making sure there's enough money in the account to cover all the bills. It's not that I'm bad with numbers, it's that I forget to do the numbers in the first place. I write due dates on the calendar and even set my phone to alert me each month when the bills are due, which helps, but sometimes that even can be overlooked if I was preoccupied with something else when it started to beep at me and absentmindedly turned it off. Often I forget all about purchases I made and forget to log them into my budget. It generates a lot of stress to not be certain about your finances so I'm really trying harder to keep a better track of all the money that comes in and goes out. I just started keeping a budget on Excel. I hope it helps. I'm also thinking that maybe grocery money and any other discretionary funds should just be in cash so I don't accidentally tap into funds needed for bills. When the cash is gone it's gone. Go root around the kitchen instead of going out to eat.