The question came up the other day, for the first time since school let out. “Dad, is summer more than halfway over?” Ryan asked. Last summer, and probably the few summers before that, this was a frequent question. We suspect it had to do with Ryan’s nerves about changing schools, but also his general need […]
Read more "Summer’s Second Half"Do you ever catch yourself wondering if your child on the autism spectrum perceives events the same way his peers do? The way you do? They way, ahem, normal people do? I used to find myself doing that a lot, but not so much anymore. When, as a younger child, Ryan didn’t show excitement about […]
Read more "Recall vs. Understanding"My children are 20 months apart. Ryan, the older one, is trying to figure out social norms and learn where he fits in. Riley, the younger sister, is barreling into tween-dom at light speed. They are often headed in opposite directions. They fight like cats and dogs. It’s rarely anything serious, just standard age-appropriate name […]
Read more "How They Help Each Other"Ryan smiled through the entire experience. I could see his smile right through his facemask in pictures I took from 100 feet away. My wife and I fought back tears. My parents sat through bitter cold and wind for four hours to watch him play for a few minutes each intermission. I think even his […]
Read more "A Smile You Can See Through His Mask"This week we received the year-end evaluation from the social kills group that Ryan attends. Other than finding it pretty much spot-on in its assessment of Ryan’s strengths, weaknesses and areas of progress, one passage stood out. One of the group’s main areas of focus this school year was “the hidden rules of middle school,” […]
Read more "Hidden Rules and the SI Cover Jinx"
Pucks and Puzzle Pieces 