Another late night of trying to balance the homeschooling summer routine, my projects, and some volunteer work. It’s after 1 a.m. and I’ve been working on the 2021-22 school plans for the girls, organizing long-overdue blog updates, watching movies for AutFest Texas 2021, and hoping that I might some night…
The Autistic Me
What am I? Who am I? It’s easy to dismiss the questions as a bit silly. The “who” is a philosophical question beyond the what, yet the answers create a Venn diagram because who we are is what we are. I am a father and husband. Those are the roles…
The headline for this blog post probably evoked a strong reaction. Notice that I did not write, “Therapy is Junk Science.” The qualifier “often” clarifies my view, which is based on too much experience. Way too much experience, sadly. My children, my wife, and I have all engaged with therapists.…
LiveJournal, Yahoo Groups, Second Life, AIM (AOL Instant Messenger), Internet Relay Chat, and many other social and chat platforms have faded away over the years. Many of those spaces, particularly LiveJournal, once had supportive autistic communities. LiveJournal was where I found an autistic community that was okay. That was years…
“I celebrate every autism diagnosis!” declares a post circulating among autistic self-advocates. I read this in several ways. First, the positives. Diagnoses help individuals receive services and supports. For many people, a diagnosis also helps understand struggles. Diagnoses also ensure, with disclosure, some legal protections. The negatives exist, too. Believe…
Podcast Episode 0066; Season 04, Episode 30; June 18, 2021 Gary Martinez is a fitness trainer and father of Monica, a 15-year-old autistic young woman. He describes his choice to leave a “Big Box” fitness center for independent fitness training as becoming “an athlete for life” focused on Monica. Gary integrates sensory activities into Monica’s…
We have made the decision to continue with homeschooling, for many reasons. It’s frustrating, but we know the girls are doing much better academically and emotionally at home. Our daughters are going into the fourth and second grades. I’m conflicted because I know how important social skills are… and I…
After the attempt to use a writing log to maintain my productivity failed, I’ve been feeling defeated. It’s hard to bounce back once I’m off track and this summer has been particularly frustrating after I had tried to reestablish a writing routine. If I managed to write an hour or…
Podcast Episode 0065; Season 04, Episode 29; June 1, 2021 Throughout the experience of pandemic parenting, I held onto the hope for productivity. However, my focus quickly shifted from my creative works to educating my daughters and their needs have remained my primary concern. As the pandemic seems to be waning,…
Susan and I have made three major moves to reset our lives, taking us from California to Minnesota to Pennsylvania… and, finally, to Texas. We moved to Texas expecting that I’d teach high school technology and business courses. The girls would have a fresh start at a new school. Best…