Workability and Autism What happens with a teenager with autism? Well, first they’re getting closer and closer to becoming adults. My son is only a year and a half away from eighteen. An adult. His first year in high school, as a freshman, we focused on the transition to high school. Getting comfortable. Adjusting to no longer having an aide and having a foreign language class for the first time ever. Big transitions. After the first month or two, everything settled down. He earned good grades in freshman year and ended up enjoying the … [Read more...]
25
Aug 2019
Household Chores and Autism I thought this was such a great perspective…And, it is only one perspective. This is a commentary from a young adult on the autism spectrum: “Neurotypicals who live with autistics, have you ever wondered why a sinkful of dishes just hangs out for days? Have you ever gotten irritated because unfolded laundry will stay that way for a week on the bottom stair landing? Have you scratched your head at the dust and dirt all over the kitchen floor that STILL hasn't been swept? You don't get it. There are chores to be … [Read more...]
30
Jun 2019
A Sad Story in our Autism Community I’m purposely going to keep this blog short, because this is not one that makes me feel warm and fuzzy. If anything, it makes me sad, and a little terrified. I’m blogging about suicide. One that affected our local autism community. What happened? In the spring, a seventeen-year-old with high functioning autism committed suicide on April 2, Autism Awareness Day by jumping from a parking structure at a Glendale, California mall. We didn’t know this young man, but friends of ours did. I remember hearing … [Read more...]
23
Jun 2019
From One Autism Parent to Another I remembered an incident that happened not too long ago. It involved two autism parents and went like this… First, I was one of the autism parents. I was taking my son to an event at a small facility. The event was being run by another autism parent and also involved her own child. (Our kids had met when they both participated in a sport.) What happened at the event? The event itself was something that typically takes place with 20-30-year-olds, so both our kids were involved at a young-ish age. Nothing … [Read more...]
09
Jun 2019
Kimberly Kaplan and 300 Autism-Related Blogs I guess you can call this a toot-your-own-horn posting because this is my 300th blog! I have not only written 300 blogs for my own website but those same 300 blogs have also appeared on ModernMom.com. How did I start on ModernMom.com? Well…through a recreational softball team, of course. Huh? My husband ran a recreational softball team years ago in Santa Monica. At some point, he picked up a player who happened to live near the field. This player spent a week or two walking down to this field … [Read more...]
03
Jun 2019
Autism Imagination and a Preferred Topic, Plus Pizza This blog is about a project my son did for his English class. What did he do? First, his English teacher assigned a book reading project for the semester. His students had to read a teacher-approved, substantial book over the course of the semester. My son chose a book about trains. It’s a non-fictional book, but the teacher approved it. He read it over the last three months and took notes that had to go into a notebook check that happened once a year (for a separate grade). Even … [Read more...]
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