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 public [...]

What my kids are teaching me. . .

Since my husband and I made the (very difficult) decision that I would homeschool, there haven’t been many free minutes in the day. I’ve always wanted to be a teacher and always respected the profession, so much so that I didn’t think I would be capable of educating my sons with their different ages, needs [...]

Professor Mom.

In the back of my mind I probably knew it would come to this, but that doesn’t make it any easier. Faced with some pretty grim options, my husband and I decided that I will, at least temporarily, homeschool our three sons.
I’m not one of those parents that feels supremely confident in my teaching ability [...]

Priorities.

On Tuesday, I visited our public middle school’s autism program. My son Robert was placed in “autism programs” (self-contained autism classrooms) from the time he was diagnosed in 2001 at age 4 until we moved to Vancouver, BC at age 9. While in Vancouver, he was mainstreamed in typical classrooms with a 1-1 special education [...]

What am I going to do about it?

Yesterday I had two IEP meetings for my sons in their new Florida school. I met the director of the autism program, a very impressive woman from Massachusetts who has a doctorate in exceptional education. She said all the right things about the school’s program – they have a speech therapist who visits each class [...]