February 2010 - The Joy of Autism

Is there a “best place” to write?

I’m taking a break and writing at my desk while Adam plays. We’ve had a difficult weekend with anxiety so I’m taking a moment to permit myself to daydream a bit. Writing the book is a challenge with Adam’s needs. I haven’t...

Published Sun, Feb 28 2010 11:16 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Writing

A Mother’s First Reponse to the “Maternal Sensitivity” Study

This study sent a little shiver through my body. Remember the story of the big bad “Refrigerater Mother?” She was the mother who was blamed for causing autism in her child in the 1960’s. Many mothers during that period were tormented...

Published Sat, Feb 27 2010 9:58 PM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Discrimination, Acceptance, communication, autism

Autism And The Whale

Tilikum is the “killer” whale confined at Seaworld with an apparently demanding entertainment schedule. Listening to Naomi Rose, head of the American Humane Society and a mammal scientist on CBC News at Noon today, she noted that Tilikum is...

Published Thu, Feb 25 2010 11:03 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Discrimination, Acceptance, Advocacy

Back to the ABC’s

We are confronted with new challenges in our new home. Adam seemed to transition well at first, but now it is difficult again. As mentioned in the previous post, we do not know if Adam’s spasms are seizures or are spurned by tumultuous transition...

Published Tue, Feb 23 2010 7:29 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Adam, Acceptance, communication, autism, Sensory Differences

Is autism really a “problem?”

We’ve had some encouraging messages lately, haven’t we? The HBO production of Temple Grandin played by Claire Danes shows that while (and many of us have read Temple’s books already) the world caused her anxiety, she could “see...

Published Sat, Feb 20 2010 8:17 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Adam, Autism and Learning, Autism and Intelligence, Acceptance, communication, autism

So Happy Together

I’m clicking my heels this morning. Adam is so happy in his new home that it seems he likes it better than his old one! So all that worry has turned into joy, joy, joy. This isn’t much of a post except that I had this song in my head this...

Published Fri, Feb 19 2010 7:10 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Adam, Joy

Third Time’s A Charm

I’m not talking about relationships. I’m talking about Adam’s third night at his new home. After letting him explore, be tense, be happy and then settle, he spent his third night in his own bed. The past two days when I’ve picked...

Published Thu, Feb 18 2010 6:04 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Uncategorized

My Life In Files

I’m filing. Yes, it sounds tedious but I’m trying to approach this with a new zeal. Moving into a new home is one thing. Moving into a new life after a separation where all of a sudden I have to learn things like personal finance among many...

Published Wed, Feb 17 2010 12:06 PM by Estée Klar

Filed under: To Get To The Other Side

So far… Success

I just want to report that little Adam came to his new home. He was quiet. Grandma, grandpa and mommy all gathered around him and ate dinner and he just looked and looked. He hadn’t been to the house in the evening before. The lights cast a gentle...

Published Mon, Feb 15 2010 8:01 PM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Adam, To Get To The Other Side

On Family Day Might I Ask: Just What Is A Family?

I am awaiting Adam’s arrival home from his midwinter break with his dad. If you’ve been following my blog, the short story is that today, Adam will sleep for the first time in his new home as his mom and dad have separated. On Family Day,...

Published Mon, Feb 15 2010 12:31 PM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Single Parenthood, Acceptance

Carry On

It is Valentines Day. Aside from the red commercial hearts and roses we will buy only because the storefront displays will beckon, I wonder if people will remember fragility. The red hearts may be plastic but the real human ones bear no resemblance. Today...

Published Sat, Feb 13 2010 9:53 PM by Estée Klar

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

Autism and Moving Homes

This post will be brief as I am living in the moment of moving homes. Adam came to our new home today before he goes on a mid-winter break with his dad. His body-jerks have returned and he cries in his new room. “Are you scared,” I ask. “Are...

Published Wed, Feb 10 2010 5:50 PM by Estée Klar

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

The Final Countdown

It’s the final countdown. Adam and I will move in several days. I’ve written a lot about it. Tomorrow Adam sees the neurologist. Last Saturday Temple Grandin’s story was aired on HBO. It all reminds me of Adam’s anxiety and how...

Published Tue, Feb 09 2010 7:20 PM by Estée Klar

Filed under: To Get To The Other Side, autism

More Than Walls

We are moving, Adam and I. Thirteen days and counting. Leaving the home I built with Adam’s father (literally — I’ve uncovered stacks of my working notes while building the house I am moving out of) and I ache. My back aches from moving...

Published Tue, Feb 02 2010 5:35 PM by Estée Klar