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 ...

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 ...

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, ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...