Did I tell you my son has autism? It’s usually one of the first things I mention, not because I want you to feel bad for him, or for us. I tell you about my him so you’ll know right away I don’t want to talk about nonsense. I don’t want to know about the […]
Hi. My name is Carrie. I have a son with autism. His name is Jack. He is almost fifteen years old. He has blue eyes. In case you were wondering, he is not a savant. He does not possess some exceptional skill in math. He doesn’t swirl colorful blobs of paint into masterpieces, and he’s […]
Hello. I have been thinking about you lately. We’ve never met. You live in West Virginia, and I live in New Hampshire. I have five kids. My second son, Jack, has autism. Jack told me West Virginia and New Hampshire are exactly five hundred and forty-six miles apart. He knows stuff like this. I bet […]
Mama, how do you build a family? A family? Well, my child, a family is at once the easiest and the hardest thing to build. Think of it as a garden. Maybe you expected rows and rows of neat tulips, standing straight and tall in their church pews, eating organic apples […]
[Editor’s note: I wrote this post based on conversations with my son, Jack. He read it over and asked me to tell you that he always has a sandwich after school now, except on Tuesdays. On Tuesdays he likes to have cereal.] My Tell-Tale Heart Hello. I am Jack. I am a teenager. I […]
A lot of times people ask me to describe you, but I’m never sure what to say. You are fierce. Sometimes fiery. Often forgotten. Forgotten amidst the throngs of baseball uniforms threading their way to a green, green field. Cheering on the game in cold metal bleachers, no one remembers the boy who does not […]
Come here, Jack-a-boo. Sit next to me on the couch. You can look through the DVD’s in just a minute. Yes, I know The Mummy is three minutes longer than Cool Runnings. For now, please, sit with me. See, I’ve been thinking lately about promises. You know, like how I promised that we would go […]
Today, I will be here. I will be here in this house with my kids and my dog and my son with special-needs and my husband who has dark, wavy hair. Today, I will remember that when it comes to autism, there is no right. There is no wrong. There is just me, and a […]
Hi. My name is Carrie. I am forty-three years old. I am in decent shape. I exercise almost every day, and I don’t take medication, and I don’t have any medical issues. For the most part—aside from the occasional cold in the winter and monthly bouts of PMS—I am healthy. And yet, I often think […]
