My life has become something of a hamster wheel, if you will. I get out of bed when I hear my son Jack and his autism stomp down the hall and turn on the shower. Drink coffee, let the dog out, answer questions about spiders in Brazil. Then some yoga, or the treadmill. Rouse teenagers […]
What can I say that you don’t already know? My son has autism. His name is Jack. He is sixteen years old. People ask me lots of questions about stuff like gluten-free diets, applied behavior analyses, and medication for anxiety. I try to answer as best I can. I say that we don’t eat glute-free […]
Do you remember going to those meetings before we got married? In that pretty house down the street? We sat on big green couches, and listened to a couple maybe ten years older than us talk about vows and Catholicism and family. At some point a small boy raced through the room. The husband smiled […]
Listen, I like rules. I like order. I like a clean kitchen at night and I make my bed every morning. Hi. My name is Carrie. I live in New Hampshire with my husband Joe, our five kids, and a silly dog named Wolfie. Our second son, Jack, has autism. Autism is the conversation that […]
We just started the college application process with our oldest son, Joseph. Some people call him Joey, or even Joe. I call him Buca. I’ve done it since he was two weeks old. I can’t really explain why. Anyway, this college stuff is pretty overwhelming. There’s a lot to it—GPA, test scores, activities, clubs, letters […]
Hi, my name is Carrie. I have five kids and my second son, Jack, has autism. Time is a curious thing. It compresses, and expands. And when it comes to keeping a teenage boy with autism busy at the end of June, it stands still altogether. I wake up every morning mapping out possibilities. A […]
There are all kinds of fathers. Strict, playful, reserved, affectionate. Some change diapers and nuzzle newborns, others prefer toddlers, or even teenagers. But you are a special-needs father. You are in a league all your own. I remember the way you gazed upon this baby with a mix of bewilderment, and awe. I watched you […]
I have said it before, and I will say it again. I cannot teach my son to whisper. Hi. My name is Carrie. I am married to a man named Joe and we have five kids and they are big and loud and sweet and funny. I have been cooking for seven people during the […]
Hi. My name is Carrie. I have five kids, and my second son is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. His name is Jack. His actual birth-certificate-name is John. But we call him Jack because we like to stand around in airports while the official in customs flags us down because Jack/John insists he is not […]
