The Joy of Autism

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

Our Monthly Flight

About once a month Adam cannot sleep. It’s so regular, in fact, that I’ve come to call it our “monthly trip to Europe.” The time zone change would feel about the same. So it was we had another one of those nights last night. It’s...

Published Fri, Jan 14 2011 10:02 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Adam, communication

New Behaviour

We talk often in autism about a dissonance of skills and “uneven learning.” It’s an easy thing to notice or say, but it doesn’t seem that easy to accommodate. Not easy, because we still have the expectation that an autisitic person...

Published Fri, Feb 04 2011 6:12 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Adam, Autism and Learning, Inclusion, Sensory Differences, Transitions, Sleep, Behaviours

“I Had A Feeling That I Belonged”

Everyone who goes through a divorce will attest, after a significant chunk of time, you can feel cast out, a little lost. It will be a year since Adam and I moved into our new home on February 14, ironically, Valentine’s Day. As I prepared the house...

Published Mon, Feb 07 2011 6:03 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Family, Single Parenthood, Joy, Inspiration

In Praise of Support Workers

I am very sad this evening. It is the sadness of knowing that someone who was part of your daily life has meant so much to you — who has been the centre of our lives. This person is Adam’s aide. She has never wanted to be named but is in the...

Published Tue, Feb 15 2011 4:37 PM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Transitions

Adam, The Autistic Self-Advocate

“Turn it off!” I had been watching some old videos of Adam before he was even two years old. Adam, now eight-years-old, stood in front of the television and watched for two minutes intensely before he told me what to do. There are two therapists...

Published Mon, Oct 18 2010 6:11 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Acceptance, communication, Autism Spectrum and Diagnosis, Autistic Self Advocacy, Advocacy

The Eight Year Old

Lately I’ve used this term: “the normal path of autistic development.” I use it because I do believe that the path of autistic development seems to take on familiar patterns like later acquisition of language, motor planning skills and...

Published Wed, Aug 18 2010 5:36 PM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Development, Acceptance, autism, Safety, Parenting

Writing About Illness

‘Tis the season of H1N1 and I am reminded of how many writers write about illness. I began The Joy of Autism blog in 2005 whilst suffering from pneumonia. I devoured the prose and poetry of Audre Lourde when I was diagnosed with cancer. Here’s...

Published Fri, Nov 13 2009 9:36 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Writing

Tis The Season To Love

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Barb and Tim Farlow and Justice for Annie. She has been interviewed in Bloom, Bloorview Kid’s Rehab’s magazine in For The Love of Annie. I’ve known Barb for a few years now and the work she has done...

Published Tue, Dec 22 2009 1:07 PM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Acceptance, Joy

Just because he’s laughing….

All of us have encountered ongoing misunderstandings about our autistic children. Adam, going through something at the moment, could also very well be going through stress. Perhaps delayed, perhaps not, what really worries me is the assumption that just...

Published Wed, Dec 16 2009 9:33 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Adam, Family, Discrimination

Disability Studies Online

Critical Disability Studies is a growing field of study which studies the history of disability and contemporary disability issues in the humanities and the sciences. If you do not have the time to attend full time studies, there is now an online option...

Published Thu, Aug 20 2009 7:10 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Critical Disability Studies

Learning About Adaptation On The Road

We are free to view life from many possible angles. I think I am making my way into singledom with grace. Those of you who have followed this blog might have noticed some soul searching buried within some of these posts. A surgery, a husband leaving,...

Published Thu, Jul 30 2009 9:00 PM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Estee, Single Parenthood

Living Without Question

At Toronto’s Sick Children’s Hospital, we got Adam’s EEG done today, I’m relieved to report. Adam, Grandma and I went together and I’m glad we shall get some information after the few months we’ve had (see previous...

Published Tue, Apr 27 2010 7:15 PM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Activism, Discrimination, Acceptance, Advocacy

How To Argue

I’m not an expert in “how to argue,” but I’m learning. It’s never to late to learn and improve, particularly when it comes to an advancement of how we discuss the plethora of views concerning autism. What is largely missing...

Published Tue, May 18 2010 6:33 AM by Estée Klar

Filed under: Advocacy

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