November 2009 - The Joy of Autism

A Mother’s Writer’s Block

There are days I’m not sure how to write. This ache of inertia stops me short — what do I tell, what do I leave out? It’s a problem, actually, of writing about oneself; a problem that many writers experience when writing about life. The mother always...

Published Mon, Nov 16 2009 11:29 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Writing, To Get To The Other Side

The Wild Boy

We all love to read to our children. I have my own favorites and Adam has his. He will sit calmly in my arms reading The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. His favorite are The Mr. Small and Mr. Giggles books. Adam can begin to tell me his favorite parts...

Published Wed, Nov 18 2009 9:50 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Children's Literature

Adam’s Delicate Line

As a curator of art I have a special interest in “self-taught” art, otherwise known as “Outsider Art” or “Naive Art” — these latter terms I find unnecessary and, noting my bias, degrading as terms to describe...

Published Thu, Nov 19 2009 9:25 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Adam, Autism and Learning, Art, Autism and Intelligence, communication

How did I manage that?

How did I manage it, I think as I sit in an assessment for Adam today for a new AAC device. I want him to be eligible for government funding for it. I arrive at his school tired and disheveled in my leggings and baggy sweater that I rushed to put on,...

Published Mon, Nov 23 2009 11:43 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Single Parenthood, To Get To The Other Side

This Lovely Life

There are some things that silence me for a few moments. The death of a child, the poignant line. Vicki Forman’s This Lovely Life: A Memoir of Premature Motherhood does both. About the premature birth of her twins, the death of one child and the...

Published Tue, Nov 24 2009 5:51 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Critical Disability Studies, Writing

Lorraine Kerwood: “I didn’t perceive myself intelligent in any way”

Lorraine came to me by way of my own website, which attests to the power of the Internet in making connections these days. Reviewing her own work with recycling computers, and how she came to regard herself by way of other people’s view of her,...

Published Tue, Nov 24 2009 6:47 PM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Autism and Intelligence, Contributions to Society, Obsessions

Finding Me in Paris

After listening to La Vie En Rose, I booked a last-minute ticket to Paris. I leave next week to meet my girlfriend, Leda, who I became friends with while studying in Europe fifteen years ago. Leda is a pianist and her father is a well-known composer from...

Published Wed, Nov 25 2009 9:11 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Writing, To Get To The Other Side

Sweet Dreams

One of the most difficult things about being a single parent is letting go. Not only is it difficult for me to be without Adam some nights, but I do worry so often how he feels about missing mom or dad when he is not with us as we were. I know, many families...

Published Fri, Nov 27 2009 7:49 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Single Parenthood

Barb, Tim and Annie Farlow and the quest for justice

What does the story of a three-month-old baby with Trisomy 13 and her death have to do with the rights of all disabled individuals? It’s a question that Barb Farlow and her husband Tim have raised for the past several years, and today, the loss...

Published Mon, Nov 30 2009 6:40 PM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Critical Disability Studies, Ethics, Discrimination