April is autism awareness month . . .

The month of April means many things here in Georgia – warmer weather and its requisite pollen, the beginning of baseball season, the winding-down of the school year. For the past 30 years or so, April has also been designated ‘Autism Awareness Month’ in the US and abroad. It’s a time of conflicting emotions for [...]

The new discrimination

I woke up at 3 o’clock this morning with a sense of overwhelming anxiety, so I calmed myself by composing in my head what I would write about today. Writing and sharing our story is cathartic for me. I know there are thousands of families like ours and I want them to know they’re not [...]

You can’t make this stuff up . . .

Having tried to resolve our situation with Robert’s school and district since November 16th, I find myself exhausted and unable to go to into work because Robert can’t go to school. I’m lucky to be able to work from home, but I don’t know how long that will last and I’ve already missed important events [...]

An update . . . and Joe Jr. speaks

I’ve been amazed at the recent jumps in my blog readership. Apparently many are struggling on behalf of their children with disabilities and they’re looking for information and help with the public education system. I wish I could be of help to those families whose daily lives are filled with struggle and who really don’t [...]

Like slogging through quicksand

When I was a kid in the ’70s, I had an irrational fear of quicksand – it was used to great effect in the TV shows and movies I grew up with as the ultimate march to a slow and suffocating death. I’ve since learned that quicksand isn’t exactly what it was portrayed to be. [...]

No cake today = no motivation

Holding on by a thread this year in school for Robert, who attends a local public middle school. Never mind that he has been placed in a segregated classroom with children of a variety of other disabilities. Separate is NOT equal as we learned from the Civil Rights battles of the 1960s. In fact, special [...]

Short but not sweet – more to come

For four months I harbored the illusion that my kids with autism could survive and maybe even thrive in an Atlanta public school. That illusion was shattered with their IEP meetings over the past two weeks. John was diagnosed in 2002 with “high-functioning autism”. The general education teachers in John’s middle school classes acted like [...]

Autism Speaks . . . but does it speak for me?

Autism has been in the news a lot lately. Some of it’s good and some of it’s bad. Sometimes I studiously avoid news about autism because it forces me to think about things and face some realities that maybe I’d rather not deal with right now. And celebrating my 39th birthday today, I like to [...]

Healthcare Reform for Autism

Having not written in this space since April, I sat down at my keyboard today prepared to write about my doubts that meaningful healthcare reform legislation for people with autism could be passed in the current political climate. Indeed, judging from the media coverage, I was beginning to doubt any meaningful reform for healthcare could [...]

Listen to Me!

Every public elementary, middle and high school in our area has the same message emblazoned on its outdoor billboard – “Education cuts never heal.” It sounds catchy but it’s true. In a state where public education is already suffering, tax cuts and decreasing property values are forcing Florida to take even more money from its [...]