I have been writing a weekly column for my local
Patch since May 2011. Here are some of my favorites:
The Best Valentine’s Present
February 14, 2012
Valentine’s Day 2004: My wife went into labor while walking along Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago.
She wasn’t my wife at the time, though. It would be two years before I would meet her...
To read the entire column, click here.
The Boy Who Did Not Speak
June 14, 2011
...When Kai was two-years old and had not yet started to speak, we wondered if he ever would. Some kids with autism never do. He finally started saying one-word phrases about six months later...
To read the entire column, click here.
Surviving a Seven-Year-Old Backseat Driver
June 7, 2011
...Riding around in bad traffic can still bring out the worst in Kai. Whenever the car is barely moving along, he will often start yelling directions to me. “Switch lanes!” “Turn around!” “Go there!”
He becomes a seven-year old backseat driver with road rage...
To read the entire column, click here.
Contemplating Medication
September 6, 2011
For many parents of kids with autism, there comes a time when they have to consider medication for their child. No, there is no cure for autism. But there are drugs that treat the anxiety and attention deficit that often accompanies autism.
That time for consideration arrived for us recently...
To read the entire column, click here.
Happy Independence Day!
September 13, 2011
… Just before his sixth birthday, Kai drew a map of the United States all on his own. But instead of writing in the names of all of the states, he wrote a number for every state that represented the order in which they joined the U.S. I had to look up the statistics to check it out, and found out that he had it all correct….
To read the entire column, click here.
Take It Out On The Husband Day
September 20, 2011
It was Take It Out On The Husband Day at our house yesterday.
As the father of a boy with autism, I have come to understand that there are times when the stress of parenting a child with special needs can build up so much that you feel like exploding. And so, sometimes you do. At the person nearest you. Like, The Husband...
To read the entire column, click here.
Bike Riding Season Just Beginning
December 6, 2011
For most, bicycle-riding season ended a couple months ago. But for us, it has just begun.
I previously chronicled my long, unsuccessful history in trying to teach my son to ride a bicycle. For the longest time, Kai had neither the inclination nor, apparently, the ability to ride a bike...
To read the entire column, click here.
When Torn Clothing Is Not a Fashion Statement
January 10, 2012
When my son came home from school the other day, he was not wearing the shirt that he had on when he left for school that morning. He was wearing only his undershirt. And when we opened his backpack, we discovered why.
Kai’s shirt was at the bottom of his backpack. When we took it out, we saw that the ends of both sleeves were no longer attached to the shirt. Kai had chewed them off...
To read the entire column, click here.
How Do You Explain Autism to Your Son?
January 17, 2012
...I checked the book out and brought it home. It was only after I began reading it with Kai at bedtime one night that I realized that the title character was a boy with autism. I had unwittingly chosen a book that might spur our first discussion about autism with our son...
To read the entire column, click here.
Bad Parenting?
January 24, 2012
...There is perhaps nothing that frosts parents of autistic children more than when people assume that their kids’ actions are the result of bad parenting. So, for those of you with no first-hand experience, let me address that perception...
To read the entire column, click here.
