Ali Family Autism Truths #6 – April 6, 2016 In the span of three weeks, D’s two trusted, tried and true therapists/care givers both gave their notice. One took a different job in town and couldn’t fit after-school home therapy for D into his schedule anymore. The other took a job out of state and is moving on to new adventures. I hate seeing good therapists/care givers go, though I always wish them well. When we first started bringing therapists and caregivers… Read more
Somethings in Life Cannot be Fixed – They Can Only be Carried
April 5, 2016 By Dilshad Ali 0 Comments
Ali Family Autism Truths #5 – April 5, 2016 Somethings in life cannot be fixed. They can only be carried. I am not the originator of that profound and immense thought. I wish I was. Surely I have felt it in my soul numerous times. Like so many people, I have numerous articles and links saved in different places – on Facebook, on my computer, copy and pasted into a note in my phone, or cut out of magazines (yes,… Read more
A No Filters Life
April 4, 2016 By Dilshad Ali 0 Comments
Ali Family Autism Truths #4 – April 4, 2016 Two separate comments from autism families – one right here where I live and one across the world in India – kind of said it all today. From a dear friend, who has two sons with autism, both of whom have been D’s classmates over the years (pardon the language): Autism makes people bitter or burns off the bullshit. From a friend in India, whom I’ve gotten to know online over… Read more
The Spring Break that Wasn’t a Break
April 3, 2016 By Dilshad Ali 0 Comments
Ali Family Autism Truths #3, April 3, 2016 In a home full of kids (including my own and my visiting nieces), D and I may be the only ones who are happy Spring Break is over, and he (and everyone else) is headed back to school. Because when is a break really a break? A break from what? Autism? No. Like many on the spectrum, D has never been a fan of long breaks from school. A week is about… Read more
My Truth Lies with Him
April 2, 2016 By Dilshad Ali 0 Comments
April 2, 2016 – Ali Family Truths #2 The irony is not lost on me. Two years ago today, on World Autism Awareness Day, D was dealt such a blow to his health that my heart was irrevocably broken. We sat, waiting for him to wake from his anesthesia, waiting for the doctor to come out and tell us what he had found. The news was not good. Later that day, as I sat on our deck and watched D,… Read more
Autism Truths and the Humanity of Us All
April 1, 2016 By Dilshad Ali 0 Comments
April 1, 2016 – Ali Family Truths #1 D came up from the basement earlier today, hungry for dinner. Or rather, hangry – losing it in a way I know so well. Mood was restored after dinner was consumed, but that was when I noticed his right forefinger. Bloodied. Whoa, whoa, whoa – wait a minute, I said. Let’s take care of that. And so he willingly allowed me to wash and clean the finger and bandage it. But I… Read more
Where We Mourn
March 22, 2016 By Dilshad Ali 0 Comments
A writer and peace seeker recently said to me (paraphrasing), “There should be a 48 hour period of mourning after any tragedy. No commenting, no posting opinions to social media, no rush to judgment or condemnation, no rush to defend or castigate. Forty-eight hours where we mourn and attend to our collective sadness.” Seems I’m stepping away from his astute advice by the very act of writing this. But, at times like this — when Belgians are reeling in Brussels,… Read more
Why Brandon Stanton’s Letter to Trump Means the World to Muslims, to Humans
March 17, 2016 By Dilshad Ali 0 Comments
Let’s pause. Let’s pause in a time of frenzied information and sharing of videos, news, quotes, facts and opinions, in a time of seemingly endless what-the-hell moments in listening to the dumbfounding and hateful rhetoric and thoughts spewing from the mouth of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (and other candidates too – I see you Ted Cruz and your hiring of noted Islamophobe Frank Gaffney as a foreign policy advisor) — and let’s slow it down. Slow it waaaaaaay down… Read more
On the Donald, Medicaid Waivers and What I’m Concerned About
March 10, 2016 By Dilshad Ali 0 Comments
I’ll not sugar coat it – it’s been a difficult month. I’d like to press forward, figure things out and move on. But it’s not always that easy. Sometimes we are made to remember, to note it, to mark it down and to remember that which we’d rather not talk about. Case in point: the fight to get a medicaid waiver. I had our monthly visit with D’s caseworker for his ID (intellectual disability) waiver today – he is on… Read more
#OurThreeBrothers – Mourning the Loss of Three Innocent Lives
February 29, 2016 By Dilshad Ali 0 Comments
Say their names: 23-year-old Mohamedtaha Omar, 20-year-old Adam Mekki and 17-year-old Muhannad Tairab. Shot, execution style, last week in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Is this another horrible by-product of the growing anti-Muslim hate and rhetoric being pumped by presidential candidate Donald Trump and others? Is it a hate crime? Are Muslims being targeted? (Omar and Tairab were Muslim. Mekki was Christian, according to news reports.) Is it random, but tragic, violence? Or, is this another example of the rampant gun violence… Read more
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