I brought my son Max to a neurophysiologist’s office for an evaluation. If you aren’t familiar with a “neuropsych eval,” it is a two-hour process in which you must: 1) Sit 2) Remain sitting 3) Give the allusion that you are paying attention while you remain sitting. Back then, when Max was nine years old, and already years into the diagnosis of autism, fulfilling any of these three … [Read more...]
The Privilege of Freedom
Max galloped across the quarter-mile field toward the Old North Bridge, one hand holding imaginary reigns and the other hand holding the failing elastic in his shorts. “I’m Paul Revere!” he shouted as he passed by other less enthusiastic visitors. Max loves everything about the Revolutionary War. He loves the facts, dates, soldiers, and he might even go for a pair of wool knickers if they came … [Read more...]
A Man and His Vacuum
We bolted into the store so quickly that I thought Max might pull the handle right off the door. He was on a mission, but I had one too. My job was to size up the clerk. I looked across the store and saw a rather serious looking older man wearing a black suit and standing behind the counter. This is not going to go well, I thought. We would do much better in a store like this with a clerk who … [Read more...]
1,000 Voices
God is building you a team, even if you feel alone. It was 5am, 14 degrees, and still dark. If I wanted to get to the airport in time for my flight, I had no choice but to shovel this path…again. It’s always nice to visit California, but when one’s hometown of Boston has had more snow than at any other time in the history of the universe, and one’s house looks like an oversized meringue, … [Read more...]
Wrestling with Eeyore
“What do you think 2015 will be like?” Max’s tutor asked as we sat around the dinner table helping my son with conversation skills. I took a bite of dinner and sighed, “I hope it will be better than this year.” The room grew quiet. Did I say that aloud, I wondered? Was that my voice? I am the certified and licensed cheerleader of the house, the girl who was nicknamed “Smiley Emiley” in grade … [Read more...]
What We Hope For
I knew my son valued his job, but I hadn’t considered if his employer valued him. “Behind you!” I heard Max call as he walked through the bustling commercial kitchen. As a mom, I’m doing an excellent job of “letting go,” just as long as my son wears a hazmat suit, or in this case, perhaps a full-body oven mitt. Fortunately for Max, I’m not his regular job coach in this busy Cape Cod seafood … [Read more...]