Barbara Fischkin

Barbara Fischkin

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Barbara Fischkin is the author of the novel CONFIDENTIAL SOURCES (Bantam Dell, November 2006), a satire of journalism, love, war, marriage, parenting, autism and ice hockey. Her earlier books include the novel EXCLUSIVE and MUDDY CUP: A DOMINICAN FAMILY COMES OF AGE IN A NEW AMERICA, a work of narrative nonfiction. She is currently writing a nonfiction book about her son, Daniel Mulvaney, as he enters the adult world while battling -- and sometimes reveling in -- severe autism. Barbara Fischkin began working as a journalist in 1975. She was a Newsday staff reporter for years and her journalism has also been published in the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, WigWag and numerous other magazines and newspapers. She has taught journalism at New York University and at Adelphi University and wrote the Not Calm political column for Fox News Online, where she enraged many readers with her "liberal" views. Most recently, Barbara is hosting a radio show called Maverick Mama on http://autismone.org/radio/.

Barbara Fischkin lives on Long Island with her husband Jim Mulvaney, a private investigator and Pulitzer-prize winning former investigative editor and reporter and their two sons Dan -- and Jack: the mythic long-suffering sibling who is also a star hockey player. For more please see http://barbarafischkin.com

Blog Entries by Barbara Fischkin

Hillary Said the Word -- An Autism Mom Finally Feels Acknowledged

5 Comments | Posted April 25, 2008 | 11:23 AM (EST)


The candidates are all talking about it, but when Hillary Clinton said it, I cried.

"We will tackle everything from autism to Alzheimer's, cancer to diabetes, and make a real difference," she said, in her Pennsylvania primary victory speech. Later, looking at that one sentence in the light of day,...

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An Autism Mother Rages: Oprah Winfrey's Historic Autism Program

Posted September 18, 2007 | 09:42 PM (EST)


Oprah Winfrey has made history again. This time it was a show on autism. Not just another show but one that every parent who has a child with autism can use as a guide.

Hopefully some philanthropist -- perhaps Oprah, herself -- will have millions of copies made and hand...

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An Autism Mother Rages: Why I Put My Book Proposal on Media Predict

Posted September 11, 2007 | 11:00 PM (EST)


2007-09-12-378378042.jpeg


It's dangerous, I know, as P. T. Barnum warned us, to place your hopes on the good taste of the American people. But that's exactly what I did this summer. I put the proposal for my latest book up on Media...

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Writers Reading on Autism: Tales of The "Fastest Evolving Disorder In Medical Science"

Posted June 5, 2007 | 10:47 AM (EST)


I am proud to announce that the First Annual Writers on Autism reading will be held in New York City this week on Thursday, June 7, at 7p.m. at the Lifespire Education and Conference Center on the third floor of the Empire State Building.

Eight "diverse" --...

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An Autism Mother Rages: Rosie, Yell for Us The Way You Gave it to Rupert

Posted April 25, 2007 | 07:07 PM (EST)


I am, as my readers and friends know, mother to three rambunctious boys who make Rosie O'Donnell look like Shirley Temple singing "On the Good Ship Lollypop." My husband is included in this grouping of three, as well he should be. Everyone in my house, except me, plays ice hockey,...

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The Proper Plunderer: For My Mother-in-Law

Posted April 19, 2007 | 10:15 AM (EST)


It's been more than two years since my mother-in-law died and, still, I find myself tooling around town in her clothes, unable to stop wearing a few select items. Sweaters mostly. An odd fit, is what my friends say and not merely because she was long and lean and I...

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An Autism Mother Rages: Oprah-Courage, Pet Food and Mercury

Posted April 6, 2007 | 08:24 PM (EST)


We all know Oprah is a genius but her tactical courage doesn't really hit home until she is speaking about something near and dear to your heart.

In our house all work stopped at 4 pm yesterday so we could watch Oprah's autism show.
And yes,...

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Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley Have A Cup of Tea

Posted March 27, 2007 | 04:46 PM (EST)


A few weeks ago I said this to a friend: "These people, the ones who are sending out those suicide bombers - the ones who want to kill us - we'll be negotiating with them someday."

Rash statements like this can come back to haunt you. Sometimes,...

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An Autism Mother Rages: This is Going to Cost a Fortune

Posted March 20, 2007 | 12:01 PM (EST)


I love the check-out clerks at our local Associated Supermarket in Long Beach, New York. But they'd probably be the first to admit that they are not rocket scientists or medical geniuses - not yet anyway. Some of them are very young.

Still, even faced with a...

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An Autism Mother Rages: Television DOES NOT Cause Autism

Posted February 27, 2007 | 03:05 PM (EST)


At my own peril I have been ignoring the hypothesis - and I use the term lightly - from an economist who claims that watching too much television might cause autism.

He'll go away, I thought. He'll get academic brownie points for a paper that prompted...

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Manslaughter Charge: An Autistic Boy Dies

Posted February 20, 2007 | 10:43 AM (EST)



"A 13-year-old boy with autism died after police say two care workers for the disabled drove him around for 90 minutes - errands, buying beverages and shopping - when he stopped breathing in their van."

That was the first sentence on the front page of a newspaper...

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An Autism Mom Rages Elsewhere: On Maureen Dowd's Bookstore Foray, Pink Covers and Chick Lit by Ernest Hemingway

Posted February 11, 2007 | 04:50 PM (EST)


Way back at the turn of the century (circa 1999), I tentatively ventured into new journalism territory to write an admittedly off-the-top-of-my-head weekly political column for Fox News Online.

(Before I lose any Huffington fans, let me note that I was very obviously a Fox "token liberal."...

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Looking for Danny DeVito: An Autism Mother's View of The View

Posted January 31, 2007 | 11:14 PM (EST)


Our 19-year-old son, Daniel, is tall and handsome with a half smile like Popeye. When he flashes it, people fall in love. Their hearts break, too. Daniel suffers from Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, a rare form of late-onset autism. But autism all the same. He's one of the many victims of...

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On Hillary and Spanking

Posted January 22, 2007 | 04:49 PM (EST)


Years ago when I was a newspaper reporter, I stuck to the old rules of that profession. Support no politicians or parties, anywhere but in your heart. You never know when you might get assigned to cover one of them. Best not to show your hand and undermine your image...

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