The Joy of Autism

Scary Rain

Adam started camp and he has become content again, as I’d hoped.I’m tired around here after another flood in Toronto. Loud thunder and lightening struck just at the moment Adam’s bus came to the house. More than a month of rain dumped...

Published Tue, Jul 09 2013 6:14 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Adam, Estee

An Autistic Boy’s Life is Not A Paragraph

Adam has progressively better days since the basement flood and croup. When he seems anxious or derailed by life events I quickly engage everyone on Adam’s team – what has worked well for him is more predictability, gentle voices, activity...

Published Wed, Jun 12 2013 7:12 PM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Anxiety, Development, Transitions, Parenting, Books

Sex, Text And The Single (Autism) Mom

“Hi Babes, how r u? When can I see you?” This might be one of the texts I awake to in the morning now that I am a single mom. I wake up next to my Blackberry. Rather, it wakes me up every morning as I use it instead of an alarm clock. While...

Published Tue, Apr 20 2010 7:41 AM by Estée Klar

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

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

The Path of Least Resistance

I’m a horrible mother. This thought entered my mind early Monday morning. Adam left for school. I leaned down and he smiled at me and kissed me goodbye, puckering his blushed lips, looking into my eyes. “Don’t forget to carry your lunch...

Published Wed, Apr 06 2011 10:25 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Single Parenthood, Joy, Parenting

Telling The Truth

Toronto weather is undecided. Yesterday the city was teased by sunshine and the smell of defrosting earth. When I awoke this morning, a film of white covered by backyard. It was like that ( I was away) last week. March 22nd was delightful, I was told...

Published Thu, Mar 31 2011 7:26 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Writing

The Insidious Implications of The Judge Rotenberg Center

When I watch parents defend the Judge Rotenberg Centre, I think of children who can go on “loving” their abusive parents. Parents are the way children survive. When we entrust schools to care for our children, it is disturbing to see how long...

Published Wed, Jun 13 2012 6:40 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: autism, school, Abuse

The Purpose of Parenting Studies?

At IMFAR and with other researchers I meet, I am confronted with many requests to participate in “parent studies.” The purpose is to study what levels of stress, and how different it is to parent and autistic child. I am reticient to participate...

Published Tue, May 29 2012 7:53 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Inclusion, Family, Research, Joy, Parenting

Movement Disturbance — not so easy

Adam is going through another phase and it’s time for me to be very hands-on again — new routines that may help his body and anxiety. He’s entering the pre-teen phase, and discovering things that can get him into trouble. I’ve...

Published Mon, Mar 19 2012 8:07 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Anxiety, Single Parenthood, Autism and Intelligence, Transitions, Movement Disturbance

Please Don’t Stop The Music

It’s “Autism Awareness Day.” I’m not sure I like all the “awareness” events that still grieve the autistic person, “locked inside” a body. Every day is an autism awareness event in our lives, and it can...

Published Mon, Apr 02 2012 7:43 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Acceptance

Running As Fast As I Can

I’ve got days when I worry about Adam and how his distress is for him. The one thing that’s the most difficult for me to cope with as a parent is watching my son go through distress. Any parent wants to take a cold or the “thing”...

Published Sun, Mar 25 2012 10:38 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Anxiety, Autism and Intelligence, Acceptance, Sensory Differences, Movement Disturbance

Why Every Minute Is Not Therapy (or a case for why it shouldn’t be)

I heard this term used by someone today. It is often used in ABA-speak — that every minute of every day must be a form of “therapy” for the autistic child. We tend to hold a double standard for autistic people because we don’t...

Published Thu, Sep 08 2011 4:19 PM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Activism, Critical Disability Studies, Inclusion, Discrimination, Autism and Intelligence, Research, Acceptance, Autism and Employment, Contributions to Society, Advocacy

The New Technology and Autism Awareness

This article on technology and autism appeared in The Globe and Mail today. I’m worried that some people will view it as another autism miracle. Don’t get me wrong, I’m ecstatic about the iPad and other technologies and the awareness...

Published Wed, Feb 15 2012 7:44 PM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Autism and Learning, Uncategorized, Development, Autism and Intelligence, communication

Torontonians: The New Snow Wusses

This will date me. When I went to school, I used to trudge through deep snow. No, I didn’t walk three miles like my grandmother did, but there was lots of snow. During recess, we’d slide down any hill we could find and even forget our snow...

Published Fri, Feb 24 2012 4:37 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Parenting, school, Media

After The Wedding

Adam happily skipped down the aisle at his sister’s wedding. He didn’t sleep the night before, mind you, so I had to go with the flow. The question I asked myself was what was really important in this affair? First Adam, of course. If he were...

Published Tue, Jun 12 2012 7:55 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Adam, Development, Autism and Intelligence, Research, autism, Sensory Differences, Advocacy, Transitions, school, Ableism

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