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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]