Good times.
In other news, for those paying attention: Salomé revealed. Read #21 for everything you might want to know about India's autism that I haven't been able to communicate.
First Day of School, Part I
You expect there to be some tears on a day like this, your kid's first day of school. Today, it was India's, and while I didn't expect her to have too much of a problem with it - especially since we took her in, hung out for a bit, and picked her up - I figured Salomé might get a little emotional. I certainly wasn't expecting Isaac to be the one to lose it, though! India's been his partner in crime since she was born, from the initial weeks at home with Salomé in Virginia; to the first couple of…
1 in 166…
Autism is a complex brain disorder that inhibits a person's ability to communicate, form relationships and interact with people. Few disorders are as emotionally or financially devastating to a family. Over the last decade, the incidence of autism has increased from a rate of 1 in 2,500 children to 1 in 166, some experts say. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, autism is now the fastest growing serious developmental disability in the United States. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7012824
Insane in the Membrane
This has turned into an insane week!PISSY WORK STUFFLate Monday afternoon I found out I had to put together three PowerPoint presentations for the first day of our summer sales meeting, aka tomorrow, thanks to our Publisher's unexpected and, for all intents and purposes, immediate move over to our Conferences division, leaving our senior sales guy caught out there having to take over at the last second. Among the many things on the two-day agenda is a presentation on a new magazine we're launching in October that primarily lives in the no-longer-Publisher's head. Because I've been working on the marketing…
Home Sweet (and Sour) Home
The problem with vacations is that they sometimes do more than serve as relaxing getaways, giving a little push to the always prevalent desire to get the hell out of New York City for good. Being around houses that cost half as much as what we were looking to buy a few months ago, for twice as much space, inside and out in most cases, added to the feeling. We ended up staying in VA for an extra day because we weren't looking forward to returning to the same old grind of maintaining the status quo. While there's some legitimacy…
Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew
by Ellen NotbohmSome days it seems the only predictable thing about it is the unpredictability. The only consistent attribute, the inconsistency. There is little argument on any level but that autism is baffling, even to those who spend their lives around it.The child who lives with autism may look "normal," but his or her behavior can be perplexing and downright difficult. Today, the citadel of autism, once thought an "incurable" disorder, is cracking around the foundation. Every day, individuals with autism show us they can overcome, compensate for, and otherwise manage many of the condition's most challenging aspects. Equipping those…
Long Story Short
The past couple of months India's been through several evaluations as we tried to figure out the reason(s) for her speech delay. Behavorial, psychiatric, hearing, second opinions -- the works. All of that has resulted in a diagnosis of mild autism. Mild enough, apparently, that with therapy, she should be back "on track" within a couple of years.Now that we're satisfied with the diagnosis, we're trying to figure out what our options are w/r/t to therapy and schooling, etc. We're still processing it ourselves, but since it's the reason we killed our house search and are staying put for another…