The other day, my 9-year-old son Andrew, who is severely impacted by autism, did something amazing. For the first time in his life, he read. It wasn’t a book, or a chapter, or even a sentence. It was ONE word: Harold. The name of his favorite character from his favorite show, Thomas the Train. Before…
How an iPad can give a voice to special needs children
Andrew is kicking some serious communication ass thanks to his iPad (which, if you recall, he received from a guardian angel by the name of Gary James back in August of this year). I’ve written a pretty fantabulous article about the whole darn thing for my column with OC Moms for The Orange County Register…
Special needs girl bullied at the hands of Ohio teacher, classroom aide
It’s a nightmare that has played out over and over in my head: My helpless special needs son being abused at the hands of an evil force preying on the weaknesses of an innocent child just because he’s an easy target. I mean, who would Andrew tell? How would we, as his parents ever really…
Parenting a non-verbal child can suck sometimes.
It’s been a strange few weeks here at the Ashline household. Andrew’s been fluctuating between intense frustration and euphoric joy and none of us are getting a full night’s sleep due to his erratic night schedule. Mikey is operating on fumes and I’m close behind. Andrew has started stimming a lot, squinting his eyes, laughing…
From One Special Needs Mom to Another
You don’t know me But I saw your son at school today. He was wearing a red shirt, and I waved as his sweet face gazed up at me from behind the fence. (I remember when my Andrew was that little.) You must love him so much. Anyway, I noticed he was alone…