Muslimah Next Door

For the Love of Their Grandchildren

April 24, 2013 By Dilshad Ali 3 Comments

What would a parent do for their child? Anything. How far do we go for them? As far as it takes. What do we give up? Whatever we need to. What do we change about ourselves? Everything. When you add special needs into the picture, then your ability to go the distance for your child becomes the stuff legends are made of. And, there are no thanks necessary – it’s just what you do. I have quit jobs, stayed up nights on end well beyond the baby and toddler years. I’ve driven thousands of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Autism Interlude Tagged With: autism, family, father-in-law, grandparents, in-laws, India, joint family, Lil D, mother-in-law, parenting, special needs 3 Comments

When an Autism Awareness Event is Anything But

April 16, 2013 By Dilshad Ali 2 Comments

We’ve hit the middle of April, and while there was a flurry of focus on autism at the start of the month, it still is very much “Autism Awareness Month.” Awareness events sponsored by local and national organizations continue to occur across the United States, but sometimes I wonder how much real “awareness” is actually happening? How many of these events just serve as fundraisers for the organizations sponsoring it? Fundraising is not bad, and of course autism organizations must … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Autism Interlude Tagged With: autism, autism awareness, autism awareness events, Autism Speaks, education, fundraising, special needs 2 Comments

Where Our Concern Should Be Right Now – With the Victims, Not the Faith of the Perpetrators of Violence

April 15, 2013 By Dilshad Ali 4 Comments

If you’re Muslim, you can’t help but be thinking, oh God – let it not be a Muslim. Please, don’t let whoever is behind the explosions at the Boston Marathon be Muslim. It crosses most of our minds. I’ll start with myself – from the time I was in college at the University of Maryland in the 1990s and the Oklahoma City bombing happened, to now, it’s the first thing I think when I hear about a bombing – please, don’t let it be a Muslim. But here’s the thing. That shouldn’t … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Boston Marathon, Boston Marathon Explosions, Catholic, concern, faith, Islam, Muslims, prayer, victims, violence 4 Comments

Dilshad Ali – Why I am a Muslim

April 9, 2013 By Dilshad Ali 1 Comment

Patheos is asking its writers and bloggers to finish the sentence: Why I Am A … in about 200 words. This is my response. He sits in the bathtub as the water fills up. I add some bubble bath and when the tub fills, I turn off the tap. He’s at peace, humming, gathering suds in his hands. I go into the bedroom to put the laundry away and hear the buzz of the Jacuzzi jets go on. The bubbles have taken over, until Lil D is drowning in foam that spills over the tub. His sister brings up … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Autism Interlude Tagged With: Allah, autism, Islam, Lil D, Muslim, Qur'an, special needs, Why I am a 1 Comment

The Failure of the American Muslim Community to Help Those with Special Needs

April 4, 2013 By Dilshad Ali 6 Comments

“He (Musa) said: ‘Oh my Lord! Expand my breast for me and make my affair easy to me, and loose the knot from my tongue (that) they may understand my word … (Quran 20:25:28)” One and a half years ago, I took the plunge and began sharing our son’s life lived with autism, my struggles with keeping strong in my Islamic faith and residing at this intersection of faith and autism. With a post on Ramadan Despair, I shared what was then my lowest point, and I had no purpose in laying bare … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Autism Interlude Tagged With: American Muslim, American Muslim community, autism, Awareness, failure, Islam, Lil D, Muslim, Muslim community, prayer, special needs, Special Needs Eid celebration, spirituality 6 Comments

Rabia Chaudry – Why I Am A Muslim

April 3, 2013 By Dilshad Ali 5 Comments

This is a guest post from Rabia Chaudry, who is a columnist for Altmuslim on the Patheos Muslim Channel. Patheos is asking its writers and bloggers to finish the sentence: Why I Am A … This is Rabia's response. I am a Muslim least of all because I was born into a Muslim family, and most of all because it elevates my existence. My body is disciplined through fasting and ritual prayer. My soul is disciplined through worship, contemplation and sacrifice. My quest for the material has … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Allah, Islam, Muhammad, Muslim, Patheos, Patheos Muslim Channel, prayer, Qur'an, Rabia Chaudry, Why I am a 5 Comments

The Magician Who Can’t Make Autism Numbers Disappear

March 29, 2013 By Dilshad Ali 3 Comments

He’s a regular parlor-room magician. But instead of pulling a never-ending trail of colorful handkerchiefs or a bouquet of flowers from his sleeves, we are retrieving remote controls, spoons, wads of tissues, beads, toy cars, small stuffed animals and hairbrushes. Yesterday, when I announced bed time to him, he stood up sleepily and started to stagger upstairs. In true Lil D style of late, he was wearing two hoodies over an undershirt. (He just finds them around the house and piles them … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Autism Interlude Tagged With: 1-50, Allah, autism, autism statistics, CDC, community-based instruction, faith, Lil D, special needs, teachers, therapists 3 Comments

Hesham Hassaballa – Why I am a Muslim

March 28, 2013 By Dilshad Ali Leave a Comment

This is a guest post from Patheos Muslim Channel columnist Hesham Hassaballa. Patheos has asked bloggers to finish the sentence: Why I Am A … When this question was posed to me, I had to pause for a second and think: Why am I a Muslim? Indeed, I was raised Muslim, but I had a faith crisis during university years, and I still chose Islam after that crisis abated. Why? Well, its strict monotheism makes complete sense to me. Moreover, its culmination of all the Prophetic tradition -- from … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Hesham Hassaballa, Islam, Muslim, Patheos, Why I am a Leave a Comment

Yes, Autism is also Medical – The Story You Need to Read of Alex Spourdalakis

March 15, 2013 By Dilshad Ali 6 Comments

I helped Lil D get ready for school this morning, as I always do. Wake up, go to the bathroom, strip sheets that have been dirtied by yet another accident, brush teeth, change clothes, downstairs for breakfast. Put lunch in his backpack, and when the time comes, put the harness on and escort him to the bus. Lil D has worn a harness on the bus for years. On the special needs bus my son rides, you need to be in a harness if you have a tendency to leave your seat, encroach others or have … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Alex Spourdalakis, autism, Dorothy Spourdalakis, harness, Lil D, Loyola Medical Center, medical treatment, restraints, self-injurious behavior 6 Comments

A New Pope, A New Beginning and Pi in its Infinite Possibilities

March 14, 2013 By Dilshad Ali 4 Comments

Pope Francis I appears on the central balcony

3.14159265359 and so on and so on. Pi, in its infinite glory, on Pi day – March 14 – 3-14. On this day the new Pope Francis is already making his mark on the Catholic world and the world at large, proving, as my friend and fellow Patheos Catholic Channel blogger Joanne K. McPortland says, that this is a “good day to think about all that is infinitely unrepeatable.” As I said in my post in February when Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation, my area of expertise is Islam … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Catholic, Catholicism, infinity, Islam, Muslim, new pope, Patheos Catholic Channel, Pi, Pope Benedict, Pope Francis 4 Comments