Did you ever see This is Spinal Tap? Classic movie with Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer and Michael McKean? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Well, if you hadn’t, I’ll fill you in. There is this classic scene in the movie when Christopher Guest’s character shows Rob Reiner (yes, that Rob Reiner) a special amplifier that their band created….
Category Archives: Autism Spectrum
My Good Samaritan
I seem to be having poignant encounters with strangers lately. One was rather negative at the time, and one was astoundingly beautiful. I’m trying to learn from both and squeeze all the good I can from these moments. I’d like to share the beautiful one with you. We traveled for Thanksgiving, 400 driving miles, which…
Chanukah Oh Chanukah
Tonight is the first night of Chanukah. My kids are eagerly awaiting sundown so we can sit around the table to light the candles and of course open presents. When I was a kid, I didn’t like sharing the fact that we were Jewish. In the small town where I grew up, we were one…
How Do You Deal With The Holidays?
Yesterday was Thanksgiving day in the US. The day traditionally set aside for visiting or entertaining family and friends, eating boatloads of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy and all the foods that oddly enough, I don’t find appealing at any other time of the year. For some, it also means watching football all.day.long. For the…
Santa Schmanta…
2 weeks ago, my husband was out of town on business. It happened to be his birthday coming up, so I took my kids to the local mall for some Papa Birthday Buying. We stepped in to the Wonderful World of Bass Pro Shops and were met with Santa’s Wonderland of Stuffed Animals (and I’m…
Home for the Holidays
Every year, my larger-than-life family gets together for holidays, just like the rest of the world. I have three brothers and three sisters and their spouses, plus multiple nieces and nephews, which means a gathering with “just us” and it’s thirty to forty people. We used to take turns hosting the gatherings. Used to. As…
Preparing to be Thankful
Thanksgiving will be different for me this year. For several years running it has not been my favorite holiday. It was stressful for many reasons…not that I haven’t had my reasons to be thankful, but somehow they seemed shabby in comparison to what I had expected. This year I have determined to just be thankful,…
Hold My Hand
I’m sure I’m not the only one who takes Thanksgiving week as a chance to reflect on all the things I’m grateful for in my life. This year, the first year since my son’s official autism spectrum diagnosis, has not been an easy one. There have been more lows than highs. I’m well versed in…
What’s Wrong With Him?
“What’s wrong with him?” – ask the kids in the playground when my son refuses to play with them. “What’s wrong with him?” – asks my uncle when my son refuses to eat anything but dry cereal. “What’s wrong with him?” – asks my aunt when my son jumps around because there are too many…
Guilty
My husband and I are raising two boys on the spectrum with ADHD and a variety of other health issues. Some days are better than others, to say the least. The great days are really great and the bad days…well, let’s just say they are less than stellar. Today was one of the tough ones….