Category: Autism and developmental disabilities

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 →

People who spend any amount of time with parents of school-age children have known mothers and fathers whose children can do no wrong. They explain away any reported fault in their children by blaming...Read More →

“The question is not what you look at, but what you see.”  Henry David Thoreau In my teens, I used to see a boy at the beach twirling a straw in front of his eyes while mumbling to himself, always in ...Read More →

I just want him to be happy and healthy. I just want him to be a good person. Isn’t this what we often say about our children? I used to say this about my sons Diego and Andres while Diego was still...Read More →