Category: Autism and developmental disabilities

Many years after 9/11, I read an article in The New York Times (Putting a Price of the Priceless: One Life, September 9, 2007) about how families of 9/11 victims were compensated. As I was reading it,...Read More →

My son Diego, who’s 26 and has autism, got braces on February 2, 2019. They came off on January 16, 2020. For 350 days straight, at least once or twice a day, I was meticulous with his oral hygiene. I...Read More →

At some point, if you're the parent of a teenager, you'll feel like you can do NOTHING right. Such is the case even when, unlike my son, the teenager does not have autism and an intellectual disability....Read More →

It’s hard to say no. You may appear ungrateful, rude, impolite, insubordinate -all kinds of negative impressions. Some people -my father for example- are especially rude when declining. I’ll ask him if...Read More →

Diego eats sushi for lunch on Fridays. It took just two straight Fridays of sushi lunch for it to become the official Friday lunch. Whenever an event happens with any regularity in his life, Diego will...Read More →

If you’re a parent, a teacher has probably reported at some point: “Henry wasn’t himself today,” or “Something wasn’t right with Julie. She just wasn’t herself.” What does that even mean? You may feel...Read More →

The decision to medicate our children with special needs carries an immense responsibility: we get to decide where the sweet spot in behavior is given a long and uncertain process. Moreover, we do this...Read More →

Like other parents, I’ve had common nightmares and fears, such as my children being kidnapped or getting in trouble with the law. Given my son Diego’s autism and intellectual disability, I have feared...Read More →

“We do not realize that our views will change because we are normally unaware of the processes that change them.” - Daniel Gilbert, Stumbling on Happiness. In 2002, when my son Diego was around 8 years...Read More →

“What gets counted counts,” was, for me, the most memorable sentence uttered by any of my school administration professors. I wrote it in big letters, WHAT GETS COUNTED COUNTS, because these four words...Read More →