In our house, we chose the dinner table. It wasn’t always easy. With five kids and autism, there was a fair amount of chaos and noise. Arguments over spilled milk, forks dug into the wooden table, sibling rivalry, arguments about peas. When our son Jack was little he got up and circled the table nine […]
The first time I went to an IEP meeting was in 2006. My son Jack had just been diagnosed with autism. He was barely two years old. I sat in a folding chair. I remember feeling nervous. I wasn’t sure where to put my hands. The room was stuffy. We flipped through the reports. We […]
Hi. My name is Carrie. I am married to a man named Joe and we have five children. Our second son, Jack, is diagnosed with autism. For as long as I can remember, I’ve cooked dinner. I cooked with small kids at my feet and babies on my hip. I stirred tomato sauce while toddlers […]
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. […]
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 […]
Charlie. For you will start. To drive soon. Yes, Jack. That’s true. People ask me all the time what it’s like to have a child with autism. What is it like? To have a boy like my son Jack? I never, for one moment, forget he has it. Autism is the tympani of my background—the drumbeat […]
Do you know who I am? I am funny-loud-big. At the same time, I am quiet. I am the month of April, and the favorite color blue. I am a number. A statistic. A stereotype. I am a slippery riddle—a puzzle piece on a car bumper, a black sentence upon white paper, a curious phenomenon. […]
When it comes to autism, I say a lot of things. If I’m not saying things, I’m sitting at my laptop writing them. I say my son Jack was diagnosed when he was very small and although I was sad, I knew it was coming. I say he hardly ever slept, and he had a […]
You and I, we are about to begin a short journey together. A journey where you read what I’ve typed and I sit back on my heels, all folded hands and closed eyes, and hope you find a piece of yourself inside my words. Let’s start with the details, shall we? My name is Carrie. […]