My son Jack has autism. He is seventeen years old. This May, Jack will wear a cap and gown, and graduate from high school. Life alongside autism is like a thrilling rollercoaster ride—heart soaring one moment, a pit in your stomach the next. I am so proud of him I could burst. And yet I […]
My son Jack has autism. He is seventeen years old. Autism affects the way he eats, sleeps, thinks, and learns. He gets agitated if there’s too much static on the radio and he doesn’t like hugs and he hates the beach. When it comes to what causes autism, I’m pretty sure I have heard it […]
One night, I kissed you. And you kissed me. Then we got married. We had five kids. We bought a minivan. We got a dog. We discovered autism. Or autism discovered us. Either way. Neither way. Raising children is important. It is fast, and fiery, and special, and ordinary. It is fun sometimes and not-so-fun other times. […]
Can’t you be a normal kid? Have fun. Act silly. Blow bubbles in the springtime and chase waves in the ocean and jump into big piles of autumn leaves. Make friends. Go to birthday parties and sleepovers and camping trips. What if I can’t, he asked. Try harder, they answered. Try bigger. Try with everything […]
Can you tell me a little about the living arrangements? Sure, Mrs. Cariello! We have an entire house for students like him. Oh, okay. Does he have a meal plan? No, we have a kitchen here. We do keep locks on the refrigerator and the cabinets. Locks? Yes. They need to ask permission to eat. […]
It’s late autumn in New Hampshire right now. The leaves are alive with color, but slowly, over the coming weeks, they will drift to the earth’s floor, and the trees will stand bare and empty. It’s late autumn, yet all I can think about is a green and tender May. You see, my son Jack […]
Marriage is hard. Add a few kids, a mortgage, soccer practice, daycare, potty training, Driver’s Ed, and things usually get a little harder. Add in autism and all bets are off, as they say. Autism has a way of amplifying things, you see. It’s kind of like being in a disco, where the lights are […]
The other day I saw a teenage boy dribbling a basketball on the sidewalk, and I felt something squeeze beneath my ribcage. You see, he looked like was around the same age as my 17-year old son, Jack. I can’t remember the last time Jack held a ball in his hands. He hasn’t played on […]
Let me tell you about my son. His name is Jack. He is seventeen years old. He wears glasses and he likes the color blue. He almost always orders a cheeseburger when we go out to eat and he is very, very specific about no lettuce or tomato. He has autism. Autism affects the way […]
My son Jack has autism, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. He was diagnosed with autism before he was two. Anxiety crushed him like a ton of bricks when he was six. And obsessive-compulsive disorder? Well, we have no start date for that. It simply seeped into our lives like water in the basement. Every once in […]