How we happily survived Halloween — I’ve been hearing a lot about how parents of autistic children had painstakingly hand-made a costume that their kid refused to wear because: 1) the kid had sensory issues with the material; 2) the kid didn’t want to go out of routine; or 3) a myriad of reasons specific to…

We very rarely take 3-year old Joaquin out to public places since he had a convulsion and fell unconscious following a sudden onset of fever. It’s no longer just Covid we’re wary of; even if it were just caused by the common flu, a fever could trigger a seizure, so…

On the reunion of Michael J. Fox with Christopher Lloyd at the New York Comic Con — I confess that prior to my toddling son’s autism diagnosis, I knew next to nothing about autism except what is stereotypically going around. And that is embarrassing for me, a literature professor who has cursorily read disability studies as part of my job. Of course, what I wasn’t aware about…

How playing with my son in HIS way opened him up for joint attention with others — Lining up of objects is, in common autism discourse, regarded negatively as a symptom or a red flag. But I’ve always been fascinated by it. One of my son’s occupational therapists (he’s had three) thankfully sees it as fascinating too, rather than scary or deeply problematic. An autistic child’s predisposition…

Experience of an NT mom to an autistic child — Autism tends to run in families. However, in our families (mine and my husband’s), before our son Joaquin came along, there were no autistics. At the least, no one who self-diagnosed, was clinically diagnosed, or was suspected to be autistic. Our three-year-old son was diagnosed three months ago. I’ve begun…

My baby’s prolonged babyhood — When my children were little, I liked it the most when they were 1 year old. No longer a baby who just lies there and coos. But a bigger, mobile, and responsive baby — yet a baby, still! Toddling around the house with unbridled curiosity. Babbling back to you. …

Beginning the journey to knowledge — “Do you have questions?” The neuro-developmental pediatrician asked me after explaining the clinical abstract she prepared. My son Joaquin, after an evaluation of more than an hour, was biting a piece off the loaf of bread I brought for his snack. At three years old, he could eat bread and…

On creativity and neurodivergence — Yesterday, I found my three-year-old Joaquin picking up the phone, punching on the numbers, and talking like someone’s on the other end of the line. No, he didn’t call someone. I teared up a bit because, finally, he was role playing. I can’t tell whether it was because of the…