My only son was diagnosed with autism before the age of 3 and spent his youth giving us a hands-on course in special needs parenting. At the close of his teenage years, we built a home with an attached “apartment” for him. My husband and I are now in our midlife, never-empty-nester phase; my son keeps life interesting around here.
My essays give a glimpse of the “typical” experiences in our autism household. Sometimes they reflect an old frustration (of his or mine), or a new revelation I was probably late in figuring out. Hopefully, my writing can offer a few insights into how to support or advocate for others in your own life.
I have over 100 essays here now related to my son and our life. I’ve created this Index to help you find the stories you might want to read about.
By timeframe:
By topic:
There’s a lot of overlap, and a lot of additional categories I could sort these into — let me know if there are other topics you’d like to see!
Caregiver mental health (identifying and coping as a caregiver, includes meditation, respite, strategies)
Diet (special diets, restricted food choices, all that fun stuff)
Visual Supports (things that help: pictures, social stories, text cues, & more!)
You can also listen to selected issues of It’s Like This as a podcast.
Go here for Spotify and here for Apple podcasts and here for YouTube.