Do you remember 13? Seventh grade or eight grade maybe? A mixture of hormones, uncertainty, a growing sense of self and figuring out how to fit in with the right friends without compromising your true self? And what is that true self? Is it growing out of what your parents taught you, or is it developing independently apart from the external influences in your life? Do you remember 13? Not wanting to hang around your family all the time, wanting... Read more
Melissa Diamond and the rest of the team are still in Jenin, in the West Bank of the Palestinian territory for the next few months working on “The Jenin Autism Project,” part of “A Global Voice for Autism.” They are there to help parents learn about autism and Applied Behavior Analysis and help connect them to other autism resources as well as building their own supportive network. They are blogging their experiences here to share their efforts in figuring out... Read more
One might call me a pushover – my husband often does, saying that I’d rather keep quiet and not ruffle any feathers, except when it comes to Lil D. And even with him, in forging relationships with his teachers, therapists, aides, caregivers, bus drivers and bus aides, babysitters and everyone else throughout the years, my approach has been to win them and teach them with kindness, firmness and openness. To try and be open-minded as to what they feel and... Read more
We went back and forth on it for months. I’d try to down play it, hide that it annoyed the heck out of me too, so that the husband wouldn’t fixate on it. But the fact was that this habit of Lil D’s just continued unabated, no matter what we tried. In the grand scheme of autism things, it’s nothing big – he is constantly opening and slamming drawers, taking something out of one and dropping it in another. And... Read more
Melissa Diamond and the rest of the team are still in Jenin, in the West Bank of the Palestinian territory for the next few months working on “The Jenin Autism Project,” part of “A Global Voice for Autism.” They are there to help parents learn about autism and Applied Behavior Analysis and help connect them to other autism resources as well as building their own supportive network. They are blogging their experiences here to share their efforts in figuring out... Read more
I have been silent on the blogging front for the past ten days or so, grinding away at this thing called life. Living gets in the way of writing sometimes, you see. And I’ve been contemplating a lot of things – hard truths, let’s call them – which maybe I’ll be brave enough to explore another day with you all. These are the thoughts that press upon you when you are supposed to be working, or after the kids go... Read more
Last night after putting you to bed, after turning off the bedroom light and turning the closet light on and leaving the door ajar, after turning on your white noise machine, after uttering my usual nighttime prayer for you, after rubbing coconut oil on the lingering scars on your face and your consistently chapped lips, after covering you with your favorite heavy blanket and kissing your forehead, I left the room and shut the door. Throughout all this you said... Read more
Great news coming out of New York City – Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on WNYC’s “Brian Lehrer Show” on Monday that he’s “moving forward” with a nearly decade-long push to close schools for the Lunar New Year and for the Muslim holidays of Eid-ul-Fitr (occurring at the end of Ramadan) and Eid-ul-Adha (which coincides with the annual conclusion of the Hajj pilgrimage). “It’s complicated in terms of logistics and school calendar and budget,” de Blasio said. “But it’s something... Read more
First I was tagged in the video. Then it was posted to my wall and sent to me via a private message from a friend. Then, every faith-based, especially Muslim-based special needs group I am a part of on Facebook posted this video posted to their respective walls. And though I’m not on Twitter hardly, I’m sure the link is being shared generously there. I’m talking about this video by Imam Omar Suleiman, director of the Islamic Learning Foundation and... Read more
On our sixth (fifth, or was it the seventh? Who knows? I’ve given up counting) snow day, when it was deemed too unsafe for busses to drive kids to school but I could drive and other desperate parents who needed to get to work or just get their kids out of the house could drive – I pulled my car out onto our unshoveled driveway and uttered a prayer out loud: Please God. Please. Please. Please. Please. Throw me a... Read more
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