Lately I’ve been taking a few minutes after my son Jack has a meltdown to sit and talk with him. I want to know more about what it felt like, what set him off, and how maybe next time we can do things differently. Now that he’s thirteen, he can answer me a little better. […]
Dear Jack, Next week is your birthday. You are turning thirteen. Whenever I think about your birthday, my stomach kind of drops like I’ve been riding on a really big roller coaster. Don’t get me wrong. I love you. I love the day you were born. I am so glad you are my son. It’s […]
Last week, someone named Brian sent me the following message: Let’s say the medical community announced they have a cure for autism. It’s a 15-second shot in the arm. It has no side effects, and twenty minutes after your son receives it, poof! He would turn into a perfectly normal boy. Would you give him […]
The other day, when we were on our way to the grocery store, you asked me a question. Whenever you ask a question, it doesn’t sound like a question. It sounds like an announcement because you don’t lilt your voice at the end or change your tone at all. How do. Grown-ups have it. The […]
My son Jack has autism. Sometimes this makes him sad. Other times it makes him angry, and frustrated, and scared. When Jack was very small I had to take him for a lot of tests so we could figure out why he didn’t talk and he screamed so much and slept so little. We were […]
My son has autism. There is no cure. At least, I don’t think there’s a cure. I mean, if there is, I haven’t heard about it. Oh sure, there are therapies and diets and ways to modify his behavior and medicine to help with his crushing anxiety. These are all very, very good things—great things, […]
I really enjoyed chatting with you tonight. This resort is beautiful isn’t it? Our kids just love it. Yes, we have five. Yep, only one girl. She recently decided to cut her hair short and in the airport someone thought she was a boy. She wasn’t too happy about that. I know you saw us […]
I was in Target the other day and I ran into a mom who has a son the same age as my son, Jack. I think they were in third grade together, and again in fifth. We stood chatting in the aisle, about the price of baseball cleats and some other things, and just as I […]
The boy Jack is very excited today. He woke his mother up early. He stood next to her bed and repeated today for party store party store party store until she opened her eyes. She was not too happy. “Jack! It’s not even 5:30! What do you want?” “It is 5:19. On the clock. Party […]
I saw you tonight, at church. Well, not exactly church, but in the v-shaped building behind the church where the kids take religion class. It had been a long day. I argued with my husband, Joe, and around 3:00 my third son, Charlie, started running a fever. I was tired. I stood there, with my […]