My Dream

Last year I attended the Annual Law Summit presented by Autism Speaks. It was my first time in the nation’s capital. There was one place I knew I had to go while I was there... the Lincoln Memorial.

Not only did I want to go because of what Lincoln had accomplished or because of his ties to my home state. I wanted to stand in the place where the greatest speech on equality was ever given. Not just to honor the work and legacy of Dr. King but to invigorate my own personal battle for equality within our healthcare system and to end clear discrimination that autistic people face when it comes to health insurance coverage. 

A Spectrum of Similarities

As I read that horrible letter by that horrible person I focused on the words that were written. There were words being used to describe young Max that were vile… disgusting… evil.  Then I started to realize that those words were not being used to describe Max at all. They were venom… nothing more and nothing less.

J. Cole's Sincere Apology to Autism Community

My dad always used to tell me that a real man admits his mistakes, and then does something to rectify them.

J. Cole has done exactly that.

30 Lessons Learned

I thought I would take a moment and share with you some of the important lessons I have learned raising an autistic child. You may want to tuck these away in the ole memory banks so that you can call on them when need be. Here are 30 in no particular order…

Guess what?

One of the things that I truly appreciate about Bianca is the level of our communication. I understand her like no other person. I know what she means when she furrows a brow just so, squeals a certain way or pulls my hand in a certain direction… and of course when she just plain asks for stuff.

 Her speech is coming along pretty well. More and more she asks for specific things or uses words to describe her environment. Just the other night while at a party she told me “Back home” when she clearly had enough of the environment and all that was going on. That certainly makes things easier and has led to a lot less meltdowns over time, but despite all the advancements her level of communication is still quite different and definitely well behind that of a NT 7 year old.

I don’t know why this particular thing I am about to share is such a source of pride and joy for me. It seems so incredibly silly… ridiculous really. But maybe that is exactly the reason why. It is just fun.