I have so much to write — about the end of summer and the start of school. Heck, I still have a few items from summer vacation I want to get to. But moment-to-moment interactions often dictate the agenda here, and many a post gets conceived in brief bits of morning conversation. This was a […]
Read more "Remembering 9/11, Ryan’s Way"I discuss “little” things that aren’t “little” things all the time here on the blog. Judging by my reading of many other autism parent blogs, a lot of you do the same. Not Little Things are the rungs on the ladder of success we want our children to climb, with the ultimate goal being a […]
Read more "Not Little Things"Flexibility and autism don’t exactly go together. Like so many on the spectrum, Ryan is married to routine — in ways that both help and hinder him. Routine is comforting, and helps him navigate his days. Once the “new” becomes the “familiar,” anxiety levels visibly drop. Whatever is familiar is rarely a challenge for him. […]
Read more "The Flexibility Games"Repeating the same activities year after year stands as a convenient way to measure Ryan’s progress. Ryan has played in our town’s summer street-hockey league for five seasons, and he has come a remarkably long way in that time. His coördination, his social skills, his understanding of how to be a good teammate — all […]
Read more "Something Was Different"A while back I wrote about how autism has taught me to live in the moment, to ignore common timetables and appreciate the here and now while trying not to spend too much time worrying about what the distant future looks like. I called the post “Microscopes vs. Telescopes,” with the analogy suggesting that I’m […]
Read more "While He Looks Ahead, I’ll Stay Right Here"
Pucks and Puzzle Pieces 