Musings and What-not

The people who are criticizing the "Autism Schmautism" chapter in my new book "Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid" clearly have not read it. Or if they have, they missed the sections I thought made my feelings about autism very clear: that I not only support the current rational approaches to the diagnoses and treatment of real autism but have witnessed it firsthand while watching very dear old friends raise a functioning autistic child. Okay, Denis.  You got me.  I didn't read your book.  I saw the comment, put on my armor, and was prepared to battle... major battle! Do I owe you an apology?  I'll concede.  I do.  I should have done what I normally do, and that's to get the facts BEFORE I react. But you see, I wasn't only reacting for myself.  I was reacting for my son who does not and would not understand that those few lines were "teasers" to something "meaningful". Does this mean that I will g...

As I gaze at the curl-haired, handsome, brown-eyed boy that is my prince, I wonder where the time has gone. It seems like the past 7 years and 7 months have been an absolute blur.  His baby years seem as if they never existed. Don't think me silly.  Of course, I remember his baby years.  How could I forget them?  After all, I was the one raising him... alone.  I'm the one who has the treasured memories.  I'm the one who's been there for all of the tears... and for the laughter as well. He was a beautiful baby.  Often mistaken as a girl.  Those curly locks.  Those ridiculously long and eviable lashes.  That smile. {sigh} I remember how serious Nicholas used to be.  He could stare down the most feared mobster and not even blink.  He wasn't transfixed.  Meaning, if you moved, he'd continue staring forward.  Not Nicholas. He would actually follow you with the hardest stare.  I used to joke that it was the Sicilian-half in him showing off.  Basically, letting you kno...

Why is it that practically every site I come across tells me that my son needs to be cured?  I'm so confused as to what to do for my son, because of all the "mixed" information I read. I know my son has autism.  I know I need to do my best so that he's able to function in a non-autistic world.  I just don't know sometimes. Chelation?  ABA? GFCF? OT?  ST?  This therapy, that therapy.  I feel like a bobble-head. (bobble, bobble, bobble)  Actually, I feel like my son's a science project, and everybody wants to add their formula to his petri dish. Allow me to digress a moment... In early 2007, I participated in some research that ASU (Arizona State University) was doing for ASD.  I gave them one of my son's baby teeth and the results were very interesting. I expected to see a VERY HIGH concentration of Mercury, but too my surprise, it wasn't even a blip on the graph.  There were other metals that were a little high, but nothing outrageous. Actually, my m...

While eating at one of our favorite restaurants, my friend and our waitress, asked me this question after she'd finished proofing my book.  It was a question I had never been asked before, and one I had no experience in answering. How do you explain autism to someone who is not "affected" by it? How could I convey my experiences in such a way that she would walk away more informed or gain a deeper understanding and sense of compassion for those "different" than her? So, I did what anyone else would have done had they been standing in my shoes. I took a breath, and said, "I can't tell you what it means to you, but I can tell you what it means to me." It's been over 4 years since I heard the words, "Nicholas displays autistic-like behaviors". Since I didn't know anything about autism, I felt like I had been punched in the gut with a sledgehammer. I had been raising Nicholas alone since birth, and I thought I could handle anything....