Matthew and I were at Best Buy shopping for CD’s (he wanted to buy REVOLVER and The White Album.) He saw an entire rack of Beatle CD’s and ran over to it gleefully, bumping into another customer-hard. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” said Matthew earnestly. “What are you, a retard or something? “yelled the customer. “I…

You’re sitting there minding your own business when BAM, some friend, relative or stranger asks you a question about your child that levels you. These questions would not be in the “well meaning” category. 8 most annoying questions I’ve been asked about Matthew. 1)      Will he ever live on his own? 2)      Don’t you feel…

Our family was having dinner one Sunday evening when Matthew , who has autism, became distressed because his potatoes were touching his meat. My husband, Peter, who was tired after pruning trees all day, told Matthew in a loud voice “Don’t be ridiculous, just eat your dinner.” Matthew yelled no, that he was the boss…

When Matthew was home last weekend, we had three very normal conversations! They were: 1)      Me: “Did your friend Joe move away?” Matthew: “That’s what I heard.” 2)       Me: “Have you seen any good movies lately” Matthew: “No, but I’d like to. What movies have you seen?” 3)      Me: (driving Matthew to a gardening job,…

“Mom, I’m calling you about something important,” Matthew said earnestly, “listen very carefully.” I could almost feel his brown eyes glaring through the phone – I could see his eyebrows framing them with concern. “I very seriously need to move in with a girl for a very good reason,” he continued. Matthew had just moved…