Forever Mother [ for·ev·er moth·er ]: a mother who will spend the rest of her life taking care of her child’s day-to-day financial and health care needs. She will arrange appointments, oversee medical care, and manage bank accounts long into his adulthood. I’m not sure when I started to think of myself this way. I guess it was […]
When it comes to my son Jack, I fill out a lot of paperwork–forms, surveys, and questionnaires. I check boxes, and rate things like behavior, and anxiety, and temperament. Usually I leave the papers on the corner of my desk until the last possible second. I mean, I hate paperwork to begin with, and I […]
I have a boy named Jack. He is sixteen. He has autism. Autism is no one’s fault. It simply is. I mean, sometimes I like to say it’s my husband’s fault because of bad genetics and DNA and all of that. I’m certain this sort of accusation only serves to strengthen our marriage. Autism is […]
My son Jack has autism. He is sixteen. Autism is defined as a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech, and nonverbal communication. It is said people with autism lack empathy. It is said they have trouble making eye contact. It is said. Sometimes I wonder what it would be […]
When our family walks into a restaurant, people have been known to put down their forks, and watch us troop by them. Diners have also been known to request a different table once we sit down near them, but that’s another story altogether. When I see—and feel—their eyes on us, I wonder what they notice […]
I never thought it would come to this. That is the truth. I guess I always hoped for the best. I mean, a small part of me knew deep inside, but I never gave it a whole lot of thought. I didn’t think about it while I was researching preschools, or trying to read his […]
Imagine if, for one day, you had no ego. Your self worth wasn’t based on how much money you make, or how many trophies you’ve collected, or if you’re pretty or thin or funny. Imagine everywhere you go, people stare at you. The mall, the grocery store, the library, restaurants. People stare at the way […]
My name is Carrie. I have five kids, and my second son Jack has autism. Although he is a teenager, Jack is somewhat naïve, and innocent. His pleasures are simple—going to the movies, popcorn on a Friday night, dinner together at the table. When it comes to autism, the weekends can be long. This is […]
When I was very little, we lived on top of a hill. One night my mother and father walked my sister, my brother, and me down the hill to a big white building on the corner so they could vote. I’m not sure how I knew this, but I did. There were people sitting at […]
Hi. My name is Carrie. I have five kids, and my second son has autism. His name is Jack. He is sixteen years old. I don’t really care about what causes autism. I mean I do, a little bit. But mostly, I don’t. At this point, I’ve heard it all. I’ve heard autism is caused […]