DOE SCGF

Well, after crossing every T and dotting every i, David finally submitted the last of this year's fellowship applications-- the DOE SCGF. It was nice that their software was designed to double-check the app for the applicant, to prevent his accidentally forgetting something important.

After he finished, I had the privilege of reading Dave's essays he included on the app, and was surprised to see what a great writer he's become-- not just about science, but about his personal life, too.  Good luck, Dave!

Christmas gifts

This year for the first time, David shopped independently, without any help from anyone, (except to use my credit card). Online shopping is a great invention for autistic people, isn't it?

A person reveals a lot about himself or herself in the choice of gifts he purchases, as well as letting us know specifically how well we are truly understood by those who claim to love us. So, I was curious to see what Dave would buy for me; to see how well he understands me. Wow! David M. Nisson has really been paying attention to what his ol' mom is all about. He bought me Kisses from Katie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfXgCx3f_1c&noredirect=1

Katie Davis is a remarkable young woman, blessed with all the goodies of an American 1% life, and abandoning it all to follow in the footsteps of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. A Christian mom after my own heart...

Also wrapped under the tree (his first independent wrapping job) was Steven Solomon's Water. I'm barely past the introductory chapters of these books, but already I can see that both are exactly in line with my environmental, humanistic, and spiritual values, and I always find it interesting and reassuring to see the different ways that those with whom I share values use their gifts and talents. Good shopping job, Dave!

So, the best gift of all this year was the reminder that I'm so very, very fortunate to have been chosen by God to be the parent of the best human being I know- my son, David Nisson.

http://student.physics.ucdavis.edu/~nisson/en/

What is Person-Centered Planning?

Here is a link to an article on how the state of California uses "Person-Centered Planning" to help families of disabled children plan for the best future possible, and for helping the families of disabled adults maintain their quality of life:

http://www.dds.ca.gov/Publications/docs/Person_Ctrd_Planning.pdf

How will the 20% trigger cuts affect this objective of caring for the person more than for the state's pocketbook?

Merry Christmas, readers!!

David's Website

Just a reminder that David Nisson's homepage is at:

http://student.physics.ucdavis.edu/~nisson/en/

Physics Conference at SLAC

November 11 and 12 was the California section meeting of the professional organization David is a member of, APS physics. While he has attended a previous APS section meeting, this was the first time Dave was among those who gave PowerPoint presentations of their research results. His colleagues have informed us that he did well, given this was Dave's first talk. Left to right in the first photo are UC Davis graduate students Brian Neal, John Crocker, and David M. Nisson.

The fact is that watching David give that talk was surprisingly emotional for me. The last time I found myself fighting tears of joy at David's happiness and success was the day in June 2010 that he walked across the UC Davis auditorium stage in his cap and gown. I assumed that the next time I'd have that same feeling would be when he earns his doctorate, but I was wrong. As David spoke, I found myself swallowing hard to keep from embarrassing myself with tears of pride and joy. My autistic son, (whom some authorities told me might never speak a complete sentence properly), gave an informative presentation on his research in condensed matter physics
Dave has definitely disproved his childhood doubters...

A week later the editor of the UC Davis Physics department online newsletter, Ms. Cindy Lewis, ran David's summation of the event:

---

*GRAD STUDENT NEWS*

Shouts out to the Traveling Team Physics, including Grad Student David Nisson, who recently attended and presented at (his first) 2011 California APS Section meeting. David shares his experience with us below.

“The 2011 California APS Section meeting was a great experience for me. My favorite part was giving my very first presentation. It was exciting to have a venue to present my first results on a study... Members of the audience told me that they enjoyed my presentation. There was a wide variety of topics in the parallel sessions. It was interesting to hear the results of other people working on condensed matter physics, including not only experiments but theoretical predictions. The plenary sessions were also very informative, including one about a new kind of measurement being used on high-temperature superconductors.”

“Of the 242 attendees of the 2011 CA-APS section meeting, 17 graduate students, researchers, and faculty represented UC Davis. The conference, which took place on  November 11 and 12 at SLAC, was well-organized by a team that included Thanh Ky Ly, Hendrik Ohldag, and Mary Moseley, among others. In addition to plenary talks, parallel sessions, and interesting panel discussion, the students' “Meet Your Rock Star” luncheon and a delicious dinner, where speaker Burton Richter of SLAC gave an eye-opening talk about the realities of energy policy, there were plenty of opportunities to simply meet new people and chat. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and no doubt some helpful collaborations were born.”
 

UCD Support/Social Group

So, the latest news is that David has finally had time to attend the meetings of the Autism Support and Social Group at UC Davis. Yay! It meets at a bad time for us, so we haven't had time to go, but we finally get time this term and Dave attended while I hung out in the hallway. He really enjoyed himself, and we're happy to announce we'll head back again.

The facilitator for this group is sensitive, caring Susan Bacalman of the UC Davis MIND Institute:

http://beincharge.ucdavis.edu/staff.html       

Flying, and upcoming fellowship applications

Well, Dave and I had a great experience flying to and from Denver. http://flydenver.com/exploredia  Dave sure has come a long way (figuratively, and literally) and can now consider himself "a frequent flyer". Next big flight is Dallas-Forth Worth Airport, where we will visit nearby Lake Grapevine:

https://www.grapevinetexasusa.com/ThingsToDo/LakeGrapevine/tabid/260/Default.aspx

Congratulations, David!

Also, he passed the preliminary examination. Yay!

So now Dave's taking a regular class, attending seminars and colloquia, doing research, and applying for fellowships.

Busy!

Summer Work

Well, summer's here, so David and his physics colleagues are busier than ever at the lab. As always, I'm nearby to assist David with keeping on schedule, taking stretching breaks, lunch time, etc. I'm so glad that David is able to do science as he always dreamed.

Success!

Yay! David's first flight went great! In fact, we both enjoyed it so much, (and David was so relaxed), that we're going to skip the round-trip to SFO-and-back that we planned, and will move on to the next step-- visiting friends in Southern California.

Peace and all good

 __________________________________________________
Post #28 in "Champagne" (6/8/20)

New Directions

David has had a happy and successful year so far. He's done well in his classes, and looks forward to spending the summer devoted full-time to research.

He's progressing well in his preparation for flying. Last week, we visited Mr. Dick Tak at Sacramento's Executive Airport, who allowed us to taxi with him in his Cessna. Dave was perfectly fine. So, it's time, folks! The next step is flying. Here we go!

In the meantime, I'm still reading while David is in class or the laboratory. Recent reads have included Michon Mackedon's well-researched and highly entertaining Bombast: Spinning Atoms in the Desert. Also Freeman Walker by David Allen Cates. I've done some writing, too.

#30 (Champagen 6/8/20)

Lifeskill update-- flying

A lot of autistic people have a difficult time growing accustomed to flight travel, so I've designed a program to help David ease into it. We're starting by just watching planes land and take off at the local airport, and having David study statistics, so that he can see how much safer flying is than driving.

Next, we'll get into a small Cessna at a local airport.
_______________________________________________________

(#31 in "Champagne")

The Lab

Well, the holidays sure passed quickly, didn't they. Happy New Year.

So now, David has time in his schedule to get serious about his laboratory work. This is tricky, because David's autism makes him a different sort of scientist to work with than the other group members. While he can focus quite well on math, physics troubleshooting, data analysis, and writing, he has trouble focusing on verbally-delivered information. Fortunately, the members of his research group are open-minded and welcoming toward David. I'm sure we'll work things out.

Now That Summer's Over...

Well, Thursday was Dave's first graduate level class, a seminar in condensed matter physics. How exciting for him.

Gone are the days of Dave needing me to remain in the classroom with him to take his notes. Nowadays, I get him there on time, remind him to sit at the front (he's distracted if at the back), open his notebook, sharpen his pencil, etc. After that, he's great at taking his own notes, following the lecture, and even making haltered-but-meaningful contributions to discussions. Meanwhile, I sit outside the classroom in the hallway. I read books and journals, pray my rosary, pay the bills (yes, still writing checks) or other written chores, exercise (I walk up and down the nearby stairwell). After class, I check in with the professor to answer his/her questions about Dave's special needs, etc.

So, when I'm not praying, exercising or writing checks, what do I read while Dave's in class?

Well, of course there's The Aggie, and The Enterprise, chock full of essential breaking news. Also, I received one of those itsy-bitsy Gideon Bible-ettes from a guy outside Shields library, which squishes into my overpacked purse perfectly, between my eyeglasses and Kleenex. Then, I was reading Joan Chittister, but have taken a break to re-enjoy the Willa Cather novels, starting with "My Antonia". The story seems so much richer than when I was "a young lass". Finally, I'm reading Dr. Darold Treffert's "Extraordinary People". So, there you have it-- Dave's and my life in a nutshell. At home, he studies while I cook, clean, plan menus, etc. At school, he's in class while I read. Slowly, but surely, our little system is helping David earn his degrees.

Graduation!!!!!!!!

Well, he did it! David Nisson graduated with Highest Honors, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Physics, on June 12, 2010. Yay!!!

Big Life-Changing Decisions

Wow, time has really flown by fast, so I haven't posted here in FOREVER.

First and foremost, David has decided to remain at UC Davis. Yay! He won the Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship, which is just great. And, we have excellent resources here to help me help him with his autism issues.

Second, after years of being focused almost exclusively on particle physics (at an unusually young age to decide something so specific), David has enjoyed his senior year condensed matter class so much that he's thinking about switching to that area of research. So, this summer, Dave's going to do a science project with one of the UC Davis condensed matter professors. This will help David clarify his decision-making process. Very exciting!

Admissions

So, first, admissions:

Wisconsin rejected him.
Rutgers admitted David with an awesome fellowship for study only (no TA, no research-- just studying his first year while he "gets his feet wet") amounting to a giant truckload of money.
Davis admitted him (yay! yay! yay!) with a tentative offer of a TA-ship, while they decide about a fellowship. Praying, praying...Davis is our first choice, not just because it would be easy on me to stay here (more resources for caretakers than other places) but because of the physics itself. David is really shining here, with this wonderful team.

Peace

GRE and Fall Quarter Grades

So, in spite of having to spend any and all free time studying for the GRE, and completing graduate school applications, Dave earned all A-pluses in fall quarter at UC Davis. Wow!

Here are Dave's GRE scores:

Writing: 4.0
Reading: 460
Math: 700
Physics: 820

Not too terrible on the language stuff, considering Dave received no extra time, so ETS disabled him there. No- studying more couldn't have helped; it has to do with his autism. It takes him twice as long as most other people to read, but when he's done, he understands the material much, much better than most...

Same with his writing-- Dave can't write fast under pressure, but with plenty of time to do so, he is a brilliant writer. I can't just technical writing, but his professors tell me he writes the best science papers and laboratory reports they've ever read. Again, wow.

Here's Dave's current admissions wish list:

UC Davis
Wisconsin -Madison
Rutgers
CalTech
UCSD
University of Arizona

Happy New Year

Well,

I'm feeling frazzled by the process of watching Dave apply for graduate schools and fellowships. The easiest thing for me is to just stay here in Davis. But, is that the best thing for David?

Thanksgiving

I'm so thankful that my son, a mathematician/scientist who, a generation ago would have been deprived of a scientific career the way the fictional Raymond Babbit was in The Rain Man, gets to be a member of the international team of scientists researching at the recently-operational Large Hadron Collider. Yay!

David is completing applications to CALTECH, UC San Diego, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Rutgers, University of Arizona, and UC Davis over the coming month and a half.

Thank You, God!

David's Website

By the way, here is Dave's website:

http://student.physics.ucdavis.edu/~nisson/dws.php

Posted by Mary Nisson at 2:00 PM 0 comments
Labels: U.C. Berkeley App