Three of my boys are in some version of middle school. And three of my boys are in some version of puberty. With a family of five kids and two adults, this means 42.8571429% of my household is beginning the long, jagged descent through adolescence. One of them—my 12-year old son, Jack—has autism, so as […]
God made the grass and the sky and the mountains and the sea. He made soft, silky flowers, and buzzing bumblebees, and tall, tall trees outstretched in the forest. He made rainstorms so we would know wind. He made droughts so we would know thirst. He made deep, dark night so we would know the […]
“The thing about autism,” my friend said, taking a bite of her salad, “is it looks good until it doesn’t.” What a brilliant way to put it, I thought to myself. It was the second week of school, and so far, Jack was looking pretty good. Every morning he packed his snack and gathered up his […]
Last Thursday was kind of a crummy day. First there was Jack’s IEP meeting, where his team gets together to discuss his Individualized Education Plan. Now, I know I’m unusual because I actually love Jack’s IEP meetings. I love everyone there and we’ve all worked together for over six years, and for an hour we trade stories and laugh and […]
“So, buddy. Everything going okay? Anything you want to talk about while we’re alone?” I asked my ten-year old as we pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store. I had just picked him up from cub scouts, and I needed to run a few errands before we headed home. “No, Mom,” he sighed, reaching […]
So, we’ve got this guy in middle school now. And he is all sorts of cool. Savvy. Phrases like let’s play have been replaced by let’s hang out. He makes scrambled egg sandwiches for himself in the morning and wants to walk home from the bus stop alone in the afternoon. There is swagger in his neon-sneakered […]