normal | autisable Tags

Weblog » Tags » normal (all)

Define "Normal"

For us, “Normal” is… late nights, even sleepless nights. In depth Conversations on transport, LEGO and wrestling! Visual learning (our home is full of home made schedules)! Laughter… Tears
Mediocrity Should Not Be a Goal

Ah mediocrity… the desire to be average, just like everyone else. We feel so down on ourselves but not greedy enough to want to be better than anyone else… just to be in that nice safe middle ground wher…
What does normal look like?

One would think that the quirks of a child on the spectrum would stand out more when he is amongst typical peers. That was one of my fears as I planned our move to an inclusive district. I quickly learned though t…
"He doesn't look like he has autism."

"He doesn't look like he has autism." If I got a nickel for every time I heard that, I wouldn't need to worry about paying an attorney to sue the Board of Education. I'd have the money in the bank. Autism doesn't…
A portrait of Mothers and Sons

Last Memorial Day we were asked by a good friend Kim Mimnaugh to be a part of her wonderful project called, Autism: A Portrait of Mothers and Sons. I know Kim through the Y, as I work with her son Will. Will i…
My autistic 12-year-old vs My 12-year-old with autism.

I recently got a question from a Twitter Follower: “Is there a specific reason you prefer ‘my autistic 12-year-old’ versus ‘my 12-year-old with autism’?” Yes. "Thank you for the n…
You Just Don't Know

My good friend Danny roped me into helping him with a couple of autism-themed diversity-awareness puppet shows for third graders earlier this week. Danny worked the puppet (Mike, who has a lengthy back story), and I ex…
Life is the key to decyphering Autism

A “cipher (or cypher)” is essentially a scrambled up message that requires a “key” to unscramble it. For example, if you used 1-26 instead of a-z to write out a message. You’d take t…
Crumbling Blocks

When I was little, one of my favorite things to do was play with blocks. I love to mix together all the different shapes and sizes -- even the blocks that fell prey to my brother and his BB gun, sporting little hole…
Clothes Wars

The first thing we ran into was black T shirts. Alex was six, maybe, when all he would wear for a shirt was a black T. “Makes him look tough,” I used to think, “and it’s stylish when combined w…