“‘Housewives’ season goes out with bang” plus 3 more

‘Housewives’ season goes out with bang
Online school gives local family flexibility
Rodney and Holly Robinson Peete tell story of autistic son and their journey together
Rodney and Holly Robinson Peete tell story of autistic son and their journey together

Posted: 16 May 2010 07:57 PM PDT

"Desperate Housewives" pulled off a fairly satisfying season finale Sunday night. The season's traditional new family mystery ended pretty well for all involved — it was bad guy Patrick Logan, not Angie, Danny or Nick Bolen, who blew up. Lynette delivered her baby safely, with serial killer Eddie's help. Bree signed over her company to blackmailer Sam with hardly any fuss, only to find Orson leaving her. (He was mad because she'd made him confess and do time for his hit-and-run accident involving Mike, who survived, but is protecting Andrew for his own accident involving Carlos' mother, who died.)

The show even threw in some juicy plots that will develop over time next year. Bree apparently confessed to Gaby that Andrew killed her mother-in-law, but we didn't see either woman's reaction. A longtime nurse at the local hospital died after revealing that a child living on Wisteria Lane was switched at birth. (MJ? Julie? One of Lynette's brood?)

And in the final cliffhanger scene, the man now renting Susan's house was revealed to be...Paul Young, Mary Alice's husband and the man at the center of the first "Housewives" mystery. It's unclear that this cliffhanger really made sense to some "Housewives" fans though. Many were mystified as to who the man was supposed to be, posting guesses on Twitter that included Dave Williams and even long-dead Rex Van De Kamp.

The main characters' plots this season have ranged from sharp and innovative to cliched and boring.

Susan and Mike: C+
Wow, was it really just a year ago that "Housewives" cliffhanger involved a veiled bride that could have been either Katherine or Susan? Never fear, "Housewives" loyalists knew it was time to get supposed supercouple Mike and Susan back together. This season, Susan and Mike's marriage dealt first with the Katherine situation, which was at least interesting, and then moved on to Mike's money woes, which was dull and nonsensical. But it did serve to get the Delfinos out of their house so Paul Young could move in. (Couldn't he just have bought the Bolen house instead?)

Angie and Nick: B
Still trying to envision the story meeting that led to Marc Cherry deciding "You know what my show needs? A violent eco-terrorist!" But Drea de Matteo brought some needed fire and Italian backbone to a very bland street. Patrick Logan never really had the menace he perhaps should have, but his death brought one of the most satisfying moments ever on this show. Logan made Angie make a bomb, then hid it in her home, letting her think it was in the car. He wanted to send Angie running back to save Danny and murder both mother and child. But as she ran out of the car, she revealed that she'd somehow turned the detonator itself into a bomb, and it was Patrick who left the show with a bang. Nice one. It's a shame Angie, Nick and Danny were seen at the bus station leaving town at the end of the show. She, at least, could have stuck around for a while.

Gaby and Carlos: B
Eva Longoria Parker still brings this often-somber show some most-needed levity, and this episode was no exception. Trying to pass herself off as Nick's wife to hospital staff, she brayed in a fake Italian accent: "I got sauce on the stove, ziti in the oven and a mustache that needs to get bleached!" She and Carlos didn't have a lot to do this season (fights over homeschooling and private school? cameos by real supermodels?), but it didn't really matter. Even when they're not front-and-center, the Solises smooth over the show and tie together the other families. The show would not be the same without them.

Bree and Orson: B+
Now this plot is just getting good. Were Bree and Karl really together at the beginning of the season? Susan's ex, the tough divorce lawyer, has been all but forgotten, and Kyle MacLachlan's Orson has muscled his way back into the plot. He's turned from a seeming psycho into a real source of comfort in just a few seasons time, and really came into his own in the finale. Few people can leave Bree speechless, especially when they're berating her for misbehavior, but he nailed it. Yes, Bree was applying a double standard to Andrew's hit-and-run vs. Orson's. He called her out, and she had no response. His loss will hit her hard, and her confession to Gaby will definitely play out in the fall.

Lynette and Tom: First half of season, C; second half, B+
Lynette can be hard to like on this show, as she's so often written to do nothing but berate her children and nag her husband. She lost one of her twins saving Celia from that weird Christmas plane crash that killed Karl and paralyzed Orson, but aside from that sad, serious moment, her pregnancy didn't feel like anything but "let's stick Lynette with yet one MORE kid." But she really came around once the Fairview serial strangler was revealed to be Eddie, and her desire to give him the mother he never had was sweet and heartfelt. (Remember, Lynette's own childhood was no "Brady Bunch" episode either.) Yes, it was a big ol' fat cliche that she went into labor just as she discovered Eddie's secret, but the baby was fine, she was fine, and Eddie even did the right thing. This Lynette needs to stay around.

Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Online school gives local family flexibility

Posted: 16 May 2010 10:29 PM PDT

Published Monday, May 17, 2010 12:06 AM By MAGGIE KIELY
maggie.kiely@theeagle.com

Nine-year old Leon Harmon-Jones said he typically goes to sleep around 11 p.m. on school nights and wakes up around 9:30 a.m.

His 13-year-old sister, Sylvia, said she goes to sleep around 10:30, but sleeps in until noon.

The College Station eighth-grader and her third-grade brother are able to keep up the schedule because of the online school they're enrolled in, Texas Connections Academy.

Connections Academy officials said the school is set up like other public schools in that there is a principal and teachers and it uses a traditional school-year calendar. One hundred students are enrolled at the school, including those from two College Station families.

The program is funded through the Texas Education Agency. Families are provided textbooks and teachers assign students lessons based on state curriculum. Families are reimbursed for the Internet fees as well.

Cindy Harmon-Jones, mother of the two students, said she enrolled her kids in the school's pilot program in December 2008 after homeschooling her kids through other programs.

She said Connections Academy has been the right choice for her family.

"This is different than what we've done," Harmon-Jones said. "It's more structured, we can have more interaction with teachers, work more independent or work with a parent."

She said she switched to the program for the structure when she started attending grad school.

"We can do the work on a Saturday or Sunday, or do work in the evenings," Harmon-Jones said. "We can fit it around our lives instead of having to be a slave to the school hours."

The mother said the academy isn't for everyone, and parents who work full-time might find it hard to keep up the schedule.

But some people have misconceptions about homeschooling, she said.

"I just feel like it's good for kids to have that one-on-one instruction and be able to work at their own pace," she said. "It's a lifestyle that's more integrated in society instead of being locked up with kids their own age. I feel like my kids can be out more in the world."

Academy officials said they extended the 2011-12 school year to include grades nine and 10, and plan to include all grades in years to come.

Notice about comments: Theeagle.com is pleased to offer readers the ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. Theeagle.com cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not theeagle.com. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "report abuse" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our website. Full terms and conditions can be read here. The Eagle is proud to offer our users enhanced commenting features. You can now build user-to-user connections, follow friend's recent posts, add an avatar that fits your personality, and more. If you have posted here before you'll need to sign up again and if you've never posted start now by signing up!

Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Rodney and Holly Robinson Peete tell story of autistic son and their journey together

Posted: 16 May 2010 07:29 PM PDT

He played football, quarterbacking games in the NFL. She starred on a couple of popular TV series and has films to her credit.

But their success in the sports and entertainment worlds couldn't prepare Rodney Peete and his wife, Holly Robinson Peete, for the awful truth they were about to hear that day in the doctor's office nearly a decade ago.

Their first-born son, R.J., was being diagnosed with autism, a development disorder. He may never be able to speak or look his parents in the eyes, the doctor cautioned.

"After we both kind of cried and (said), `Why us?' in that pity world, Holly very soon after that rolled up her sleeves and said, `Let's get to work,"' Rodney recalls. "I was the opposite. I was angry more than anything else ... I didn't like to hear what the doctor was saying."

In his new autobiography, "Not My Boy!" (Hyperion), Rodney tells the intimate story of his family's struggle with the diagnosis of R.J., (Rodney James), now 12, who was named for his father.

At the time, R.J. was 3, a fraternal twin to his sister Ryan, who showed no symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Rodney openly shares the disappointment, frustrations and victories he and his family have encountered in dealing with ASD.

As a toddler, R.J. was starting to form words, but around 2, he stopped talking and responding to his name or making eye contact. He began flapping his hands and flicking his ears in repetitive motion.

The Peetes took the twins to the best pediatrician they could find after R.J.'s preschool teacher told the couple he was not teachable. He needed physical, occupational and speech therapy, the doctors confirmed.

"My anger and denial left me in a lonely world," Rodney writes. "I still thought when the (football) season was over and I could spend every day with him, we would fix this in our own way. I'd be his dad and I'd snap him out of this."

So doing what he knew best, Rodney headed to the nearest sporting goods store to load up on soccer balls, footballs, baseballs, bats and mitts. But when he took R.J. to the park, the boy was only interested in throwing rocks into a nearby creek, over and over. Some days, he would kick the soccer ball. Then it could be days before that would happen again.

Rodney finally realized that learning to venture into his son's world was a better option than trying to make R.J. a part of his. Once he was committed to "Team R.J.," he says, he began taking the child to and from appointments - from three hours a day at a special school, to all the therapies the doctors had recommended.

Through it all, Rodney says, he began to learn how to work with his son and got down on the floor to play. This interaction technique, called Floortime therapy, is a way for parents and therapists to deeply engage autistic children in activities and problem solving.

"When I moved past my denial of R.J.'s condition, I was surprised by how I felt," he explains in the book. "I felt liberated. Sure, at first I'd mourned the vision I'd had of the kind of father I would be to R.J. And I understood that I had to let go of all the images of fatherhood that I'd received from movies and television - from Ward Cleaver to Cliff Huxtable. I wanted to have as loving a relationship with R.J. as I'd enjoyed with my own dad, but I had to come to terms with the fact that it couldn't be exactly the same."

Since the diagnosis, the Beverly Hills family

8th Annual Los Angeles Walk Now for Autism

What: Celebrities, including Rodney and Holly Robinson Peete, James Denton, Ryan Wynott, join the community in the fundraising walk.

When: Saturday, April 24, 2010. 8 a.m. registration; 9 a.m. opening ceremonies; 10 a.m. walk.

Where: The Rose Bowl, Pasadena.

Information: www.walknowforautism.org or 800-549-0500, Ext. 765.

has grown with sons Robinson, 7, and Roman, 5. Each member has his or her own role in R.J.'s progress.

While his parents focus on a bigger picture that includes school, his twin sister, Ryan, 12, acts as his protector. The younger boys always want to play, which keeps R.J. engaged and working on his social skills, a challenge faced by those with autism.

R.J. has learned to look his parents in the eyes, tell them he loves them and even has asked for spaghetti for dinner. He's made friends, plays soccer and basketball and is getting ready for middle school. He even appears on Fox Sports Net's "Kid Pitch" with a segment of his own, "Stump Rodney."

"We were nervous about it at first because he has autism and we didn't want

people to make fun of him. We're protective of him. We were thrilled he wanted to do it," says the former co-star of "21 Jump Street" and "Hangin' with Mister Cooper." "It's a great opportunity for Rodney to represent the strength and uniqueness of kids who have autism."

Yet, with any child, as they grow, new challenges arise. For the Peetes, it's puberty.

For young adults on the autism spectrum, this stage of development causes more confusion, aggression and some regression in the progresses made, Holly says.

"It's very, very hard for him to sort out all of those hormones," she says. "We are now faced with a new set of challenges."

Ryan, R.J.'s twin, has joined her parents in reaching out to the community in sharing her experience with autism.

She recently collaborated with her mom on a fictional children's book, "My Brother Charlie" (Scholastic Press), based on her childhood experience with R.J.

Holly also has written her own book about autism and is active in the autism community, especially with Walk Now for Autism, which takes place Saturday at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

She and her husband also have created the HollyRod4Kids Foundation to help children with autism.

Their dreams include eventually opening an autism treatment center in Los Angeles, Holly says. Their vision is of a "one-stop-shop" where families can access treatment, including a restaurant where kids can be themselves. They even want to add a barber shop.

"Take your kid with autism to the barber and it's a nightmare," Holly says. "It takes a special type of person who can work with these kids."

For now, the Peetes are focusing on the future, discussing homeschooling R.J. for middle school and spreading the word about this incurable disorder.

"Once we really started opening up about it and were sharing our story, I felt compelled to really try to help other fathers out there trying to deal with it," Rodney says of his book. "From a man's point of view, it's a difficult situation and it's not often talked about from a father's point of view."

Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Rodney and Holly Robinson Peete tell story of autistic son and their journey together

Posted: 16 May 2010 07:10 PM PDT