About

Jo Ashline is first and foremost mom to her two sons: Andrew, who is ten and has autism, epilepsy, and cystic fibrosis, and who possesses a deep passion for big rigs and shiny soup cans, and Ian, who’s nine, loves striped socks and sweatbands, and happens to be the greatest little “older brother” in the world. Jo lives in Orange County, California, and is married to her best friend Mikey.  Together they try their best to duck whenever the perpetual doodie hits the fan.

Jo is passionate about writing, especially about her experiences raising her special needs son, and is dedicated to promoting compassion, providing resources and creating a supportive community through her special needs column, This Modified Life with OC Moms for The Orange County Register.

Jo writes regularly on her personal blog, A Sweet Dose of Truth, where no topics are off limits. She advocates for children with special needs, pokes fun of family members, candidly explores her past struggles with alcoholism and a slew of other diagnoses that can be found in the DSM IV.

After visiting her personal blog, readers either leave scratching their heads wondering why the heck they just wasted five minutes of their lives on her latest post or spend their days waiting around in earnest, pacing back and forth and threatening to go on a hunger strike if she doesn’t fulfill their lives by offering a steady stream of her opinions and observations.

She hopes it’s mostly the latter.

Jo recently won her very first Journalism Award for Best Feature Article 2012 from The OC Press Club for her piece entitled How an iPad can give a voice to special needs children.

She covets the rare occasion she can finish a cup of coffee before it gets cold, and loves her life in a way that makes other people roll their eyes in annoyance.

From left: Andrew, Mikey, Jo and Ian Ashline