A Lot Can Happen In a Little Bit of Time
The best way to describe Monday is through a timeline. 4am. Charlie wakes up. Showers, etc. 4.25am. Charlie asks for a walk. Jim suggests a bike ride; I point out that it is kind of early. I set this Giant Timer app on Charlie’s iPad—it is simplex elegans, a giant digital timer with neon chartreuse … Read more
Pretty Okay: Few Words, Lots to Translate
Charlie woke up at 5.20am, showered, and came down the stairs exuberantly. It was ‘no’ to a walk and then he went to get his socks. Jim brought up the possibility of a bike ride; I pointed out that it was a bit early. Charlie (now besocked) returned back down the stairs and we asked … Read more
That Was Then, This Is Now
Charlie did good at school, as his teacher emailed me and Jim noted. He took the bus home and then wanted my dad to sit in the front seat of the black car. It was another instance of Charlie having some idea, some image, in mind about how things should be when my dad and … Read more
Each and Every Moment
Clearly I need to work on Charlie and me standing next to each other (as in days gone past). In looking over my posts, I seem to have been posting photos of Charlie riding his bike, and Charlie getting ready to ride his bike, and Charlie riding his bike with Jim, and Charlie riding his … Read more
Solo
In the summer of 2001, we were walking on the beach when we met a man and a boy boogie-boarding in the waves. Charlie was four years old and absolutely fascinated by the ocean, which he clamored to be brought to in our arms or (preferably) on Jim's back. If not in the water, Charlie … Read more
Doughnut Burger
This post is going to be a jumble-potpourri-mishmash of things (sort of like this doughnut burger, hence the title) because too many things are on my mind at the moment. 1) We don't know if Charlie is going to have yet another snow day Tuesday. No word yet from his school as I type this … Read more
Many Hearts Day
Sunday being the middle day of a three-day weekend due to President's Day for Charlie (following a week minus two days due to Mother Nature sending an awful lot of snow), and it also being a bit warmer and the sun shining brilliantly, what could we do but go to Charlie's favorite-most place, our favorite-most … Read more
I Visit the BAC
I went to visit Charlie at the Big Autism Center on Friday morning. His teacher had first planned on asking me to come at 10.30 am but then (as she told me in a phone call) it occurred to her that I'd drop Charlie off at 8.45 and have to drive home and turn around. … Read more
53. Conflicts of Interest: public school autism programs and “the system”
The use of the helmet and of restraints on Charlie, and the inconsistent reporting to us about these, raise serious ethical questions about the treatment of students in an autism/ABA program in a public middle school in New Jersey. But it's not only the autistic students who are being compromised by unethical practices. The way in which the autism program … Read more
