Autism Parenting

Sometimes I love my kids just because. Just because it is mine to do. Just because I choose to fill my heart with an ineffable, unstoppable and totally undeniable love that persists and sustains no matter what my children do.

When Mickey was diagnosed 16 years ago, there was no road map to tell us what lay ahead. How do we build a full life for him after high school? Where will he live? And our ultimate dread: Who will love him when we are gone?

Experts agree that the the dramatic increase in autism is caused by toxic environmental exposure and gene-environment interactions. Multiple toxic exposures may be a key factor to the onset of autism.

Gradually, inch by inch, Neal did, indeed, emerge from his cocoon as a glorious butterfly -- but on his own schedule, not mine.

This has been a particularly rough April, aka "Autism Awareness Month." I'm trying to find the bright spots where I can. As always, I begin in my own home, with my three daughters, who have autism.

So here I am, in the middle of my life, filling up my own room. What took me so long?

Seventeen years earlier, I had left France because in those days, children with autism did not have the right to an education, and my son, Jeremy, was severely impacted by autism.

Hot on the heels of last month's fertility scaremongering about ovarian reserve came a new scare for women planning to start their families later, this one about autism.