Public Ponder

Imagination and Autism: All Minds Don’t Imagine Alike

I recently showed my 26-year-old son Diego an abstract painting with lots of red on it and asked him what it showed. Without a moment’s hesitation, he declared it a pizza. A decorative wall plate with...Read More →

Lockdown and Autism: Diego’s Routine in Text Messages

Put Diego, who's 26 and autistic, in a new situation, and he’ll develop a routine in no time. When he was a child, changes in routine triggered epic tantrums. This began to get better when his amazing...Read More →

Running and Autism: Why Any Run with Diego’s an Adventure

It used to be that the most adrenaline producing aspect of running with my son Diego, who has autism and an intellectual disability, was preventing him from getting run over. He had no idea how to cross...Read More →

Remote Teaching: How to Teach Preschool Remotely

I’m a preschool special education teacher for an integrated public school preschool program in Connecticut and I just ended my eighth week of remote teaching. My school year ends on June 18, which means...Read More →

30 Days of Seneca, the Perfect Quarantine Companion

2,000+ year-old Roman philosopher by the name of Lucius Annaeus Seneca has been one of my closest companions during this time of quarantine The reason for this is that, thirty days ago, I took up a...Read More →

Seneca on the Power of Words

“Words need to be sown like seeds. No matter how tiny a seed may be, when it lands in the right sort of ground it unfolds its strength and from being minute expands and grows to a massive size… Yes,...Read More →

Your Temperament Is Not a Good Excuse

"The active man should be able to take things easily, while the man who is inclined towards repose should be capable of action.” Seneca the Younger, in Letters from a Stoic The Stoics, in general, were...Read More →

What Makes a Work of Genius “Genius”?

“There is a sequence about the creative process, and a work of genius is a synthesis of its individual features from which nothing can be subtracted without disaster.” Seneca the Younger, in Letters...Read More →

On Perseverance: How Can You Become a Natural at Something?

“You have to persevere and fortify your pertinacity until the will to do good becomes a disposition to good.” Seneca the Younger, in Letters from a Stoic Everything all self-help gurus say seems to have...Read More →