Category Archives: Autism family life
-
Heaven by way of the swimming pool
1February 22, 2015 by whirlyjoy
She looked tiny under the sheets of her deathbed, this woman who for most of my life was a towering, outgoing and whirlwind presence, fully able to live up to the strong promise of the size-12 Irish peasant feet that carried her as she strode through her days.
-
Phantom limbs
3November 6, 2014 by whirlyjoy
Even after I had consciously accepted that I would never hear Aida’s voice shaping anything other than low chirps and decibel-breaking shrieks, still I would dream vivid, lengthy, exhausting dreams, filled with the sound of Aida in speech.
-
That autism groove
Leave a commentAugust 21, 2014 by whirlyjoy
Aida came back home last week to sleep over (“at Mom’s house”) for the first time since her move to …
Continue reading -
Giving Superwoman the boot
5April 6, 2014 by whirlyjoy
We have no guarantee that our kids, of any stripe, will be drawn to the same things we are, or to anything that our limited imaginations can come up with for them.
-
Working to pull the pieces together
1September 20, 2013 by whirlyjoy
Baby ducks are bright yellow with chubby orange beaks, aren’t they?
-
Shifting gears with a slippery clutch
6September 12, 2013 by whirlyjoy
If this blog post is a bit disjointed, that suits the subject matter. Autism definitely puts a family and everyone in it out of joint.
-
Summer Camp, part 1, or, Getting from there to here
Leave a commentJuly 22, 2013 by whirlyjoy
Aida was dubious at best when we left home for something called “camp” that she had no real concept to match up with – and as we drove further from the familiar urban landscape, her anxiety grew even greater than mine.
-
Mind the gap
7June 6, 2013 by whirlyjoy
Last week I had to pick Mimi up early from school for an appointment, and found myself in unwilling conversation …
Continue reading -
Chaos du jour: Swimwear
4May 20, 2013 by whirlyjoy
Aida still occasionally flashes the patrons of the evening open swim at the community center pool – uncaring of modesty, I assume because of her autism, although it might just be the French half of her DNA coming out.
-
On love and space freighters
4March 9, 2013 by whirlyjoy
There’s no series of behavioral or learning objectives that leads up to feeling love and being able to tell someone about it – but that ability to pluck an emotion out from the whole swirling muddle within ourselves and give it meaningful expression is one of the mysteries of being human.
whirlyjoy 