Hi. My name is Carrie. I have a son with autism. He is fifteen. His name is Jack. When you have a child with autism, your life is a delicate tightrope. Every day, you stand upon the thin wire, one foot balanced in front of the other, hoping for the smallest step forward. And on […]
Sometimes I wish everyone had the opportunity to raise a child like my son, Jack. Jack is fifteen. He is nearly six-foot, two inches tall. He wears a size thirteen shoe. Blue Nikes, in case you were wondering. He picks his cuticles until they bleed. He goes to a special school. He takes medicine every […]
Autism is a blue-pen diagnosis scrawled across white paper. Low executive functioning. Poor social skills. Obsessive-compulsive behavior. Severe anxiety. Autism is unpredictable. It is unusual, and unexpected. It is rigidity, tenacity, and ability, all rolled into one complicated mind. It is a father’s determination. This father, see, he hurts. Sure, […]
It’s April now. Here in New Hampshire, we are treated to the occasional shirt-sleeve day, when the sun warms your arms and you can cast your jacket aside. April is Autism Awareness Month. My son has autism. His name is Jack. He is almost fifteen. What can I tell you about autism that you don’t […]
I keep a small green box on my desk, and inside are all the letter tiles from an old game of Scrabble. When I sit at my laptop to write, and the words won’t come, I remind myself that inside this box is every sonnet, play, song, and story ever written. Romeo and Juliet. Little […]
When it comes to my son Jack and his autism, I wish for a lot of things. I wish I could rid the world of cars that backfire, doors that slam, and people who shout like maniacs for no reason. I realize this isn’t about autism per se, but whenever Jack hears a loud noise […]
Hello. My name is Carrie. I am almost forty-four years old. I am married to a man name Joe, and we have five kids. As I approach the middle of my fourth decade, I am noticing more and more all the things I think, but I do not say. First of all, my body is […]
Listen, I don’t like to give a lot of advice when it comes to autism. I mean, I hardly know what I’m doing and it’s all very complicated and every kid is different, right? But after we chatted for a few minutes in the Target aisle, and I walked away with my cart and you […]
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 […]
I had such a nice time talking with you tonight at the baseball game. You cracked me up with all of your questions. Once upon a time, I had little boys like you. Now they are big boys. They don’t ask me questions anymore. Mostly, they tell me things they know but they think I […]