Taking the Awe out of Autism

Experiencing my son's concern about my well-being.  Priceless. Yep, it's the little things in life that make it worthwhile.  Making sure the family is healthy.   Sharing a good meal at dinner.  Watching a favorite TV show with Jacob.  All good stuff.  I've been suffereing from a nasty cold for almost two weeks, and Jacob's seen me feeling stuffy and tired.  Come 9:30 each night, and I've been ready for bed. So, when I was on the computer right before going to sleep, Jacob walks into my office and says "I hope you feel better Mom", it was music to my ears! I've spent so much time working on empathy with Jacob.  Explaining why manners are important.  Insisting  on hearing "please" when he makes a request or "thank you" when I've done something nice for him.  Letting him know my displeasure about something that he may have done or said that wasn't to my liking ....

I'm become somewhat addicted to Facebook as a means of self-expression. When I find interesting articles or sources of information, I like to post it on my Facebook page so I can share with all 257 of my Facebook "friends". I also like to repost on my Facebook page interesting articles from these same friends. Of course, only a handful of these Facebook friends are actual friends. The rest are people that I used to know and have reconnected, I've "befriended" through Facebook or are acquaintances that I've met in actual real-life face-to-face interactions. Hi, nice to meet you. You're on Facebook, great, let's be friends! It's a step up from never having met in person, but it's still pretty artifical in terms of a real friendship. As any parent of a child with an ASD knows, friendships are a precious commodity. I remember I did a lot of facilitating in this area for Jacob when he was young. I enrolled him in social skills classes. I g...

This was my last blog for Hopeful Parents. Enjoy! The lives of parents with children on the autism spectrum are very busy. They spend hours and hours researching and finding the treatments that would be most appropriate for their child. They schedule meetings with doctors and professionals. They spend a lot of money on therapists. They arrange playdates, and they taxi their child to appointments. They hope that what they're doing will eventually prove to be worth the time, money, and energy. This was my life when Jacob was young. Now he's 17 and by all accounts doing well. He started at public high school this year and there have been no issues. His report card came back with good grades. All of his teachers say he's engaged and active in the classroom. So I guess all the hours of driving, researching, and meetings have paid off. Or have they? When I look at Jacob, I see a young man with so much potential. When he puts his mind to something, he'll do it. To make ...