A while back I had lunch with an old friend, and the topic of conversation wound its way to autism. I, of course, am the parent of an autistic son. As it turns out, his nephew is also autistic. He wanted to understand autism, and I wanted to help him understand. But I didn’t know [...]
Also tagged acceptance, Asperger's Syndrome, autism, awarenessOn her blog at About.com:Autism, Lisa Jo Rudy usually asks questions. In her soon to be released new book, Get Out, Explore, and Have Fun!: How Families of Children With Autism or Asperger Syndrome Can Get the Most Out of Community Activities, she answers two very important questions: Why should you “get out, explore, and [...]
Also tagged Asperger's Syndrome, autism, Books, LifeIn his book Unstrange Minds: Remapping the World of Autism, author Roy Richard Grinker mentions chess legend Bobby Fischer (p. 63) as someone who may have been an undiagnosed autistic. When I read David Edmonds’ book Bobby Fischer Goes to War: How A Lone American Star Defeated the Soviet Chess Machine, I thought the same thing. (For [...]
Also tagged Asperger's Syndrome, autism, awareness, Books, LifeA few years ago, a friend asked me the question: “If someone told you there was a pill you could give your son that would cure his autism overnight, would you give it to him?” Sounds like an easy question, right? I hadn’t really thought much about it for some time, as it had been [...]
Also tagged acceptance, autism, awareness, LifeThe following ties in well with my recent post Parents should be leaders (not managers) and my overall theme for Autism Awareness Month, so I’m reposting it in its entirety. I first posted this in April of 2008. – – — — —– What would you think if your friend/neighbor/sibling told you that they had [...]
Also tagged acceptance, autism, awareness, leadership, learning, LifeI found this bit of wisdom in the book Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi. Though geared at self improvement, this quote struck a chord with me as a parent: The trick is not to work obsessively on the skills and talents you lack, but to focus and cultivate your strengths so that your weaknesses matter [...]
Also tagged acceptance, Asperger's Syndrome, autism, awareness, LifeSeth Godin doesn’t write about autism, and yet much of what he writes and says comes across as if it were written just for the parents of an autistic child. Today’s article – Accepting limits – from his blog is a perfect example (emphasis is mine): Isn’t it absurd to focus so much energy on [...]
Also tagged acceptance, Asperger's Syndrome, autism, awareness, LifeYou’re 22 years old, fresh out of school. It’s your first day as a teacher, and you learn that one of your students is a 6 year old autistic boy. You are given a stack of reports and files that tell you, in detail, how “bad” this little boy is and how hard it is [...]
Also tagged Asperger's Syndrome, autism, awareness, Books, Education, learningI started blogging about autism, and being the parent of an autistic son, 5 years ago. My main goal was to help myself make sense of it all, to understand my own feelings about my son’s autism. Here is some of what I’ve figured out. I hope it helps. Parenting is a challenge, no matter [...]
Also tagged Asperger's Syndrome, autism, awarenessMost autism interventions focus on making the child “more normal” or “less autistic”, and this is where many of the problems come in. (I’m sure parents who try to make their “geeky” kids more athletic or their “jocks” more academic run into basically the same problem.) Earlier this year I read (and reviewed) Dan Pink’s [...]
Also tagged autism, awareness, Life
