Talking About Autism, Disability, & Hygiene

November 14, 2012January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

Shannon Des Roches Rosa www.squidalicious.com Most parents fret about their kids’ hygiene and how it is affected by factors like circumcision, tooth brushing, or toilet training. Said fretting escalates when the kids in question have a disability, but hygiene doesn’t have to be the skunk cabbage in the parenting bouquet — not if parents do their best to understand why hygiene can be complicated, take cues from self-advocates with insights parents and professionals cannot provide, encourage self-care, recognize that not all hygiene needs will be rooted in disability, and help make self-care part of a routine. Circumcision is a standby topic in parenting circles. Arguments both for and against the snip invoke culture, religion, sensation retention, or wanting Daddy to have a penis twin. But few mention the possibility of conditions like cerebral palsy or the fine motor challenges that often accompany autism, and how those affect uncircumcised penis care.…

Disability

Joy, Guilt, Tomatoes: Parenting & Autism

September 12, 2011January 31, 2022 by Jen Myers

Jennifer Byde Myers www.jennyalice.com My son Jack is a long, lean, boy with an odd gait and a subtle smile. His first diagnosis was benign congenital hypotonia, which was later upped to cerebral palsy, ataxia. He added his autism diagnosis just after he turned three, about the same time he began to walk. He can spin a plate over and over again, but he can not yet stab a piece of food with a fork. He straddles the worlds of ‘autism’ and ‘special needs’; stimming, using a wheelchair as necessary when his muscles are too weak, or when the environment is too bustling. He’s a young man of few words, unless he does say something, at which point he is always relevant, and often wry. I’m his mom, so I can generally guess what he needs, but communication is a struggle; it can be hard for him to clearly share what…