From Inside the Puzzle: Raising a Child with Autism Blog

From the Archives: A Southern Gal In Need of Sensory Input

2013-05-18T10:23:00Z

In these snippets from the archives, my daughter accuses me of being echolalic, and she desperately needs some increased sensory input after I pull her out of her regular routine. September 1, 2006: As A. and I were walking up the stairs to our apartment this evening, she slipped her hand beneath my arm and ever-so-gently grasped my elbow. It struck me as such an incredibly “lady-like” thing to do, that my voice immediately fell into a crude impression of a deep Southern accent. “Why, it’s not every...(read more)

I Take The Conversations When I Get Them

2013-05-17T16:21:00Z

To be fair, my daughter's overall reclusive nature and tendency to avoid conversations with her parental figures has, I believe, more to do now with the fact she's quickly approaching 14 years of age than it does with the fact she's autistic, but that doesn't mean I appreciate the conversations we *do* have any less. I still revel in any moment my daughter decides she'd like to be in my company. It's actually been happening a lot, recently -- moments where my daughter just wants to hang out and talk...(read more)

From the Archives: Happy Mother’s Day! … in August.

2013-05-12T00:42:00Z

In this entry from the archives, my daughter becomes obsessed with the idea of creating a perfect Mother's Day for me... in the middle of August. August 30, 2006: Tonight, my daughter became suddenly obsessed with the concept of Mother’s Day. She told me that she wanted to make me a big, delicious breakfast of chocolate milk, juice, cereal, bacon, eggs, and pancakes. I told her that was a beautiful thought, but Mother’s Day was in May. She laughed at this idea, as if I didn’t know the first thing...(read more)

Lessons in Driving

2013-05-05T21:56:00Z

My daughter teaches me so many important lessons, especially when I take a moment to pause, and listen. This weekend, my daughter taught me a few important lessons in driving. It's amusing, because I'd had a dream Friday night that I was trying to teach A. how to drive, and then the rest of the weekend, she was, in reality, giving me these beautiful nuggets of wisdom that directly related to my perception and interaction with the road before me. I haven't been feeling well for almost a week now....(read more)

Stim and Let Stim

2013-04-30T02:01:00Z

A. wanders through the house, talking loudly to herself, performing skits in her head, sometimes even yelling and shouting the parts, using strange squeaky voices for the different characters in whatever playlet she is enacting. If you ask her what she's doing, she may say she's quoting something, or practicing voice acting, or she'll simply dismiss you with a gentle "never mind," as if she already knows there's no possible way you could understand what she's talking about. At other times, she'll...(read more)

From the Archives: Germany Wrap-Up

2013-04-26T10:24:00Z

In this entry from the archives, A. and I wrap up our last days in Germany, and prepare to "return to English." July 28th, 2006: Well, I have about 36 hours left to spend in Germany. Despite the lack of air conditioning, I am really going to miss it. I will have to come back. It's just one of those places for me, like New York City. And here I have friends, and people I could count in my extended family. A. lost a tooth this morning, which means that the German tooth fairy gets to visit her tonight...(read more)

From the Archives: Exploring Aachen, Berlin, the Eifel, and the North Sea

2013-04-18T16:55:00Z

In this entry from the archives, as we continued our summer trip to Germany, A. and I explored many different cities, and she even made a fast friend despite the language barrier. July 16th, 2006: I'm totally behind in relating my adventures, so I don't imagine I will come anywhere close to doing the last week justice. You'll just have to settle for the condensed version, sorry. And we'll go in reverse chronological order to try to make it a little easier for everyone, especially myself. Today: more...(read more)

Surprising Me Every Day

2013-04-17T10:00:00Z

Recently, it seems as if A. has matured a great deal on an emotional level. The other day, as we were pulling out of the driveway to go to school, she realized that she'd forgotten to pack her drawing notebook. In the past, such a realization would lead to a meltdown -- or, at the very least, high-pitched squealing -- and a desperate plea to let her go into the house and get it herself. On this particular day, she actually shrugged the entire incident off, and actually said, "Oh, well -- I'll get...(read more)

From the Archives: Adventures in Germany, Part One of Many

2013-04-16T01:22:00Z

In the summer of 2006, I took my daughter to Germany to visit with my dear friend Susanne, who'd been with me when A. was born. We spent about six weeks exploring cities like Aachen, Cologne, and Berlin, and it was fascinating to watch A. adapt to an entirely new language and an entirely new culture. The next couple of From the Archives entries will reflect our adventures on this trip. July 4th, 2006: I would just like to state, for the record, that crossing the Atlantic was not nearly the terrifying...(read more)

A Jolly Personality

2013-04-12T10:01:00Z

There are so many things my daughter does that complete surprise and delight me, but the evolution of her sense of humor and comedy is definitely one of the big ones. A week or so ago, we were visiting with family, and for some reason, A. was inspired to stand in the kitchen delivering entire Jeff Dunham skits. She isn't a ventriloquist, but she does a wonderful job of changing her voice to represent different characters, and she did a faithful rendition of several of the skits. The entire family...(read more)

From the Archives: Angels in Greene County

2013-04-09T14:53:00Z

In this entry from the archives, I share one of my favorite pictures of A. of all time. (Also, please be aware that this was long before I'd ever seen the "Don't Blink" episode of Doctor Who, so I didn't realize for many years how terrifying this picture could be, too.) May 27, 2006: A. nestles with a group of angels outside of the Bargain Salvage in Greeneville, TN, this morning....(read more)

Look At The World Through Her Eyes

2013-04-03T00:41:00Z

Today is International Autism Awareness Day. Because of this, people are wearing blue, sharing posts on social media sites, and I follow a number of people who both celebrate the day by "lighting it up blue" as well as people who criticize the day for focusing on fear-based rhetoric and excluding actual autistic individuals from the conversation. As for myself, I like to use this day to focus on ways to promote Autism Acceptance, on ways to help society understand and support autistic individuals...(read more)

Love is the Spirit of this Church

2013-03-31T23:15:00Z

If you've been following my blog for a while, you should know that A. has a history of difficulty in attending church. During the height of her difficulty, I actually kept her from attending church altogether for about a period of six months. At the time, we'd exhausted every tip, trick, technique, and methodology I could think of to help her adjust to the church environment, and it was still impossible to keep her behavior in check to a degree that would not disrupt the rest of the class. It times,...(read more)

From the Archives: The King Of All Cosmos

2013-03-28T01:43:00Z

In this entry from the archives, I'm amused by the way that strangers interpret A.'s obsessions and conversations, specifically when she refers to video games with which they are unfamiliar. May 22nd, 2006: Whenever A. gets obsessed with something, it becomes her opening topic of conversation for any and all strangers she happens across. For a while, it was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; she would walk up to people in the grocery store and ask them, "Do you know about Ninja Turtles?" to which most...(read more)

Beginning the Transition Plans

2013-03-25T01:57:00Z

At our most recent IEP meeting, A.'s caseworker explained to me that, since A. will be turning 14 this year, we have to begin creating a transition plan for her. The transition plan will not only ease the transition from Middle School to High School, but it also helps A. shape the sort of future she wants to create for herself. It's a lot of exploration, a lot of A. thinking about what she wants to do, and a lot of guidance and support from the school system to help A. achieve these goals once she...(read more)