I’ve Got an Olin

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I’ve got an Olin. He’s unique, and he’s challenging. Those are some positive words for him. What follows are some more realistic words about him. This morning we’re being liars together, Olin and I. “You said you were sleeping,” he …

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Understanding the Why

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This morning around 11AM, Olin decided to ride his little red wagon through the busiest intersection in Allamakee County. Tim says he heard a knock on the door, assumed it was one of the kids (who were all playing outside), …

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There He Goes Again

Last December, we moved to town after several years in the countryside. Starting in the springtime, Olin would disappear from our yard, sometimes several times a day. He didn’t answer or return when we called, so I frequently found myself …

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Juicervose, Choo Choo, and Interpreting Autism

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When I was driving home last Sunday afternoon, I turned on WPR (Wisconsin Public Radio) to keep myself awake on a boring, tired drive. Unexpectedly, I was plunged into a very familiar, closed, intimate world: the world of autism. The …

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To the [Person] who did a [Thing]

There appears to be a plague of smug, self-congratulatory passive-aggressive jackasses on the internet who find it necessary to write “open letters” to strangers about their parenting, or their reaction to parenting. This seems to be the formula: Dear, [Person …

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If a child falls and nobody’s offended by it, do you still blame the mother?

So, somewhere in a zoo recently, a kid accidentally fell into a gorilla cage. The gorilla was shot before he could kill or save the child, so the chance for the hero animal angle was lost… but caretakers’ understanding of …

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Autism and Me (The Sibling)

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For approximately five years, there have been various support personnel in my sphere – from DHS home visitors to medical doctors – who have asked me if I had any questions or needed any information. The one thing that I …

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Parenting Now: Drowning!

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In winter, we frequent a ‘nearby’ (re:40 min drive one-way) indoor hotel ‘waterpark’ with a shallow baby pool that maxes out at 13 inches, one backyard-length slide in the shallow bit, and one ‘real’ water-slide that has a whole lot …

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