Does back-to-school make your stomach do backflips? Ours, too. So we asked some of TPGA’s contributors what they wish they’d known — as parents, or as students — about the back-to-school season. Here’s what they shared: Mir Kamin wouldashoulda.com I knew it was okay to press for what my kid needed, but it took me a really long time to learn that it was also okay to admit when it’s time to stop trying to hammer your square peg into a round hole (and go find a square hole). I never in my wildest dreams expected to be a part-time homeschooler/unschooler, and yet it turned out to be a wonderful solution for our family once I gave up on the assumption of “making it work” with public school. Mind you, classroom accommodations provided by my son’s IEP worked for a while … until they didn’t. I’m so glad I finally…
Tag: Mir Kamin
Here at TPGA, we’re featuring “Slice of Life” conversations with Autistics of all ages — kids through adults — throughout April’s Autism Acceptance Month. Today we’re talking with Monkey, who happens to be the son of TPGA Contributor Mir Kamin. What is your name and age? My mom calls me Monkey on her blog, and I’m 12 years old. Do you have a website? No. What would a one-sentence description of yourself sound like? This is a hard question. One sentence that describes me is that I am unable to answer this question because there are too many choices! Do you have any autistic superpowers? What are they? I am really good at math. I am also good with animals. Autism enhances my concentration and memory, I think, which helps with math. Animals don’t notice if I say the wrong thing or act funny, they can just tell I love…
Sharon daVanport is the executive director of the Autism Women’s Network and the host of the AWN Radio Show. She’s a mom to four children — one of whom has Asperger’s — and she is a tireless advocate for women and children, particularly those whose lives have been touched by domestic violence. She is also an adult who has Asperger’s Syndrome. TPGA contributor and BlogHer contributing editor Mir Kamin was lucky enough to spend some time chatting with Sharon for Autism Awareness Month. Can you tell me about how/when you were diagnosed with Asperger’s? I always like to remind people that even though I was diagnosed as an adult, it didn’t mean I became autistic as an adult. But it explains so much, everything really, so well, now that I know. My 17-year-old son was diagnosed with Asperger’s in kindergarten. His therapist later said she knew about me right from…
Mir Kamin Woulda Coulda Shoulda (wouldashoulda.com) For the first time in a very long time, it felt like things were okay. Good, even. Things were going to be great, in fact, and once I got the kids settled in to our new town, new house, new life … things would only get better. So there I was in the office of the one and only psychiatrist in town our new health insurance would pay for, who would also see children younger than twelve. My son was only seven, but for the past year he’d done well on an anti-depressant to help control his anxiety. I’d had reservations about medicating him — of course I did — but it helped. It helped a lot, actually. All I needed from this doctor was a new prescription for the medication that we already knew was working fine. I’d brought his medical records and…