Please tell me I am not the only one who cringes with mixed emotions about summer get-togethers! I love the warm weather, time outdoors, and opportunities to connect in a relaxed setting. Still, I know these reunions, weddings, graduation parties, and family picnics will get my children's diagnoses to be noticed in ways I would rather forget. I fight dread anticipating the comments from … [Read more...]
Spectrum Overload
Last time I wrote about the rainy days. I know we all have them. Well, today, was one in a long sequence of rainy days. Symptoms Raging Just in case I'm tempted to forget that life is complex, my son reminds me by becoming obsessed with flushing the wipes down the toilet. Now, we live in an old farm house. Very old. The plumbing is old. Very old. It doesn't handle the flushing of normal … [Read more...]
The Goodbye Salute: Noah Transitions to Middle School
In the gymnasium at North Bend Elementary, a smallish school in a mostly agrarian county in northeast Maryland, we parents sat packed together in tight rows. We were prepping for a transition. In the front of the gym, on the floor, were rows of children from kindergarten through fourth grade. They were present as witnesses to this celebration of the fifth graders. Today, the school would laud … [Read more...]
Emily and Max Went Back to Church, and Found Extra Family
Something happened at church. Or perhaps what you need to know is, what didn’t happen. I pulled up to the church and Max bounced out of the car swinging his favorite vacuum. Several people were unsuspectingly milling around by the front door, exchanging greetings. “Watch out for the people!” I yelled behind Max as I watched his 8-pound Oreck swing like a ten ton wrecking ball. I fully expected … [Read more...]
Taking Autism Awareness to My Son’s School
Several months ago, I was sitting in an IEP meeting at my son's school when it happened. We were discussing the problems Sam was having making friends, and I explained the frustrations he felt over moving and struggling to find a new best friend. It was hard for him to do that, considering how he was being made fun of at recess because of his scripting and lightsaber fighting, acting out his … [Read more...]
Thankful for the Disability Trenches
Nobody is thankful for the disability trenches. No thank you for wiping rear ends way past the expected age range or getting hair pulled out during a meltdown. I don't see the praises for IEPs that haven't really changed in years because the level of learning is pretty much the same year after year. And no Hallelujah for when high school is finished for the virtually unemployable. We only hear … [Read more...]