It wasn't about control of me over him, or him over me. It was something that we both had to get used to; Tal's mom is a person who does things that do not always relate to Tal.

When children are very young, they have a hard time seeing a different point of view than their own. Most young children seem like that for the first years of their lives. It takes a long time for them to realize their view of the world is different than others.'

What I would really like to tell you about is not my son's progress, but of the lessons I've learned from his experience.

As the parent of a child with autism, I discovered a peculiar thing: Many things that cause stress, or at least some annoyance, to other parents are causes for joy or at least satisfaction for me.

Here in the land of self-sufficiency and family values, foremost of which is the sanctity of parental childrearing, anything that smacks of social welfare statehood is a tough sell. Never mind that nearly 57 percent of women with children under age one are in the workforce.