My eight-year-old son, M., has autism. For an autistic kid, M. is very in tune with other people's feelings. He shows a great amount of empathy. He gets very upset when others are upset.For example, when our house gets loud or we're arguing with M.'s older brother JC, M. gets very unsettled. He starts to growl.…
Companionable
The Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge is to show "Companionable." You can see the post (and cute pictures of dogs) here. That's JC and M. playing with the hose in our backyard. We had two kids so that they would have each other. Though they share the same blood, they are as different as day and…
“Yeah Blue, I’ve Got Two!”
This week my soon-to-be eight-year-old son M. performed in his school play. About a month or two ago we started getting handouts with song lyrics and dates and scripts. A quick review of the script revealed a line highlighted in blue for M. to practice. Our M., who has autism, had a speaking part! He…
The 1% and Disney
Disney has a policy in place for disabled patrons (along with up to six of their guests) to access rides from a "more convenient entrance" and avoid the long wait lines. Disney also offers a personal family tour guide and VIP passes for non-disabled (and presumably disabled) families for $310 to $380 per hour. An…
The Daughter I Never Had
Being the only female in the house, I am The Minority. I'm the sole representative of All Things Female. Since I'm one of four people, I guess that makes me the twenty-five percenter. I AM THE 25%! Being female is not the only category for which I am The Minority. "The 75%" have been pushing…
Belated Thoughts on World Autism Awareness Day
Yesterday, April 2, was World Autism Awareness Day, a day where we "recommit to helping individuals on the autism spectrum reach their full potential," according to President Obama in yesterday's Presidential Proclamation. I wasn't sure what, if anything I wanted to say about World Autism Awareness Day as a parent of a special needs child.…
Giggle Girl
As you all know, I try to attend yoga class twice a week. My yoga classes are held at a gym-- a regular gym with rows of treadmills and ellipticals, a basketball and racquetball court, and even a "Cardio Cinema" (Basically, it's a movie theater that substitutes cardio machines for seats. Ingenious.). The good thing…
M. the Ripper
As I've mentioned previously, my son M. has autism. I'm in Holland instead of Italy, and life is definitely interesting here. One of M.'s challenges with living in our world concerns his sensory processing. Here's my parental, non-medically trained, limited knowledge on the subject: With typical people, when we invoke our senses by seeing, hearing,…
Welcome to Holland
Last week I mentioned that I was granted permission to post one of my favorite essays. It touches upon what it feels like to parent a special needs child. It was originally given to me by my son, M.'s, teacher years ago on the first day of school, and it has stayed with me ever…
Waiting on a Word 
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