Little Songbird

Kris Robin Today we went by the dress store to pick up my daughter Emily’s pageant dress. I had chosen a dress shop close to where we lived, though to call it a shop would have been a bit of a stretch. It was a storage building attached to the side of a trailer. Off to the side stood the Woodrow Wedding Chapel – yet another storage building where happy couples could walk down the aisle after renting a wedding dress. An orange tabby was asleep on a bale of hay by the front door. A little girl’s white dress was draped over the bushes in the sunshine. It really didn’t look like the place to rent a pageant dress, but I had been lucky enough to find one for Emily there last week. With shoes, however, I had no luck anywhere. I had to wonder at my rotten luck…

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Be Different: An Interview with John Elder Robison

John Elder Robison is as fascinating as you might imagine; bright, articulate and thoughtful. His first book Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s became one of the most popular works to introduce people to autism. He thought he would write a second book because he realized that people had such a strong desire for insight. Be Different: Adventures of a Free-Range Aspergian With Practical Advice for Aspergians, Misfits, Families & Teachers is filled with stories he says “show how every component of autism that you find in the DSM manual affects my life. Some of those things help me to be successful, and some of those things hold me back, so it’s a mix, all those different traits.” Your new book is Be Different, then you use the term “Free Range” in the subtitle. Are you describing a time before diagnosis? I grew up without being constrained…

What Am I Doing Here?

Liz Ditz I Speak of Dreams Academic Remediation I don’t have autism. I don’t have a child or a sibling or a parent with autism. What am I doing here? (Personally, I find that line of thought contemptible: that only those directly affected by autism should be thinking, writing, or advocating for people with autism. But that’s the subject of another post.) How did I become an advocate for people with autism? It’s a long and winding story that isn’t unique to me. I started kindergarten in the mid-1950s, almost two decades before federal law required that children with disabilities have the same access to public education as their non-disabled peers. What did that mean, though, for families and for schoolchildren? Back then, children with cognitive disabilities were either kept at home, with very little support for their parents in the community, or were institutionalized. It was common for families…

Purple Sucker

Dawn Comer What happened next? Mommy, what happened next? she begs, wanting for story, an end. But I have no context, know no story. Morning but my daughter’s eyes flit, seeking shadows in sunlight. Mommy, what happened next? Morning and my eyes stare, settling into love-heart pillow, bright pink against dull blue carpet.  Cast off casualty of nighttime. And then I understand. Lucy, did you dream? Did you see  a story in your sleep? Baby crying, Lucy says. Baby crying in daddy’s office. Purple sucker in daddy’s office. And then, Elliot angry. Baby crying. And me not needing to hear Lucy but still she says her name as if it is not even hers. Lucy baby crying in daddy’s office. Elliot angry. Lucy baby have purple sucker. Mommy! Mommy, what happened next? Her first shared dream an ache in my gut. I have no words, no end, no power, no…

Autism Acceptance for Autism Awareness Month

Leah Jane quixoticautistic.blogspot.com It is April, and that can only mean one thing to this autistic blogger: Autism Awareness Month is here for the whole 30 days of the month, and without a time machine, there’s no escaping it. Autism Awareness Month has been a thorn in my side for as long as I’ve been an adult. I am at heart an attention-seeker, so you would think having an entire month devoted to people like me would be a joy to behold. But that’s the problem behind Autism Awareness Month. It isn’t about me. It’s not about me—the autistic person. The entire conception of Autism Awareness Month doesn’t even revolve around autism, not the kind I have or the kind that anyone I know lives with. The ‘autism’ of Autism Awareness Month is a mysterious, esoteric, silent force, which magically swoops into the homes of unsuspecting families, and replaces regular,…

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Seven Years Old

Christa Dahlstrom http://hyperlexicon.blogspot.com/  Today you are seven years old. One of the big kids now. But you’re far from turning jaded or sullen. Not you. Your primary mode of transport is skipping. You sing your heart out, just for your own entertainment, without a drop of self-consciousness. You are almost always in the midst of improvising an action adventure movie or a comedy skit. “This is the part where we’re running away and the cave is collapsing and there’s going to be an avalanche. Ready? Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!” “Mommy, I’ll take a drink and then you tell me something surprising and then I’ll spit it out. Okay! Go!” Occasionally, when you can’t find the words for something, you come up with your own, infinitely more interesting, way to say it. “Do you want to know why I didn’t finish my breakfast? My food microbes are not at 100 percent.”  ______ You know…

On Autism and Wandering: We Need Data

Though wandering or “elopement” is not a safety concern exclusive to the autism community, it is a hot topic due to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) proposal to make wandering a medical diagnostic code. While those behind the proposal argue that codifying and diagnosing wandering will lead to increased data and a better understanding of prevalence, critics worry that a medical diagnosis for wandering could lead to involuntary restraint and abuse of vulnerable autistics. At the Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism, part of our mission is to support good science, and that starts with good data. With this in mind, we interviewed two advocates of the Interactive Autism Network (IAN)’s survey on wandering and elopement (escaping) among individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD): Lori, whose son Connor has autism and for whom wandering is a serious safety issue; and Dr. Paul Law, Director of the Interactive Autism…

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All I Have to Say

Kristen Spina kristenspina.wordpress.com I’ve spent the first few days of Autism Awareness month blogging about nothing important. I should say, deliberately blogging about nothing important. The problem I’m having is that with all this focused attention, all eyes on us, so to speak, I’m having a hard time putting words to what I feel, what I think about autism in our lives. One of the things I know is that I can’t speak for anyone other than myself. I can’t speak for my son, for my husband, for our families or friends, or for any of you who walk a similar path. As I read other blogs and listen to some of what the media is saying, I am overwhelmed by the diversity of thought and opinion. The polar extremes of the spectrum itself. I am reminded that the inherent challenges of autism have to do with perception — from…

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Squillo www.confutata.com It has become easy to forget that my kid is a little different. Because he’s our first child, his behavior at home has always seemed normal — always been our normal — since we had nothing to compare it to until his neurotypical sister came along almost three years ago. A few weekends back, we took the kids to the classic car show that’s held in our town center every year. We started going three years ago, when Squidboy developed a keen interest in old-fashioned cars. It’s really a combination street fair and car show, with music, food, and kids’ activities, as well as the parade of automotive awesomeness, and that first year we figured it was going to be a smash-hit with the kid. Managing expectations is a lesson most parents have to learn; those of us with autistic or other developmentally different kids learn it in…

Wonder

Alysia K. Butler trydefyinggravity.wordpress.com Last week was special in our house. Last week, my son turned five. So many of my posts are filled with how difficult life is for him.  How his autism and sensory processing disorder cause everyday activities to be so challenging. Not today. While I had a corn-free cake cooking in the oven, I wrote down all the amazing things about my son.  What makes him a rock star.  And what makes me proud to be his mom. He has the most amazing giant brown eyes, and when he looks at you, you get lost in them. His passion for Hot Wheels cars is unmatched.  He knows every single one that we have in the house.  We have a lot. His memory is impeccable.  Ask him what rides we did at Storyland last summer and he’ll tell you them all and where they are in the…