It has been, at best, an uneven summer. Ryan is managing his anxiety about moving to a new school in the fall. He tolerates camp, although “likes” would be too strong. On off days from camp, he tolerates going to the town pool. On the other side, we continue to deal with challenging behaviors: defiance, […]
Read more "The Signs of Progress Are There"Once in a while there is a moment that crystallizes Ryan’s struggles. When it occurs, even in the middle of a meltdown or challenging behaviors, it’s all we can do to hug him tight and try to tell him it will be OK. Saturday was full of trying moments in our house — with both […]
Read more "Ruined by the Smallest Detail"I’m going to do something a little different on the blog today. Today’s post is not about my family, nor is it be about hockey. That’s because I read something yesterday that I still can’t get it out of my head. The story is “The Ballad of the Piggyback Bandit” and it appeared Wednesday on […]
Read more "The Piggyback Bandit: A Cautionary Tale"The other day, I wrote about having “The Talk” with Ryan’s sports coaches. Though such conversations initially made me uncomfortable, they were part of a years-long process of both acceptance of Ryan’s diagnosis, and of learning to be an advocate for him. That entry made me recall the first time I truly realized that advocacy […]
Read more "Learning To Be an Advocate"A few months ago, Ryan quite suddenly began insisting everyone call him by his full first name. Fine, we thought, this is a good sign that he is asserting his independence. If we had to work on how he angrily corrected anyone that called him by a shortened version, we could do that. At the […]
Read more "Don’t Call Me ‘Buddy’"
Pucks and Puzzle Pieces 