• Understanding Autism from the Inside

    “Academics came easily to me. The rest of life—not so much.”
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Neurodiverse Characters in Children’s Fiction without Labels- Frederick Moody and the Secrets of Six Summit Lake

Frederick Moody

One of the things that bug me the most about seeing neurodiverse characters in books is the storyline is often about struggle and disability. Growing up, as many of you already know, I did not see myself in the pages of book. Identifying with my favorite characters was near impossible, …

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Monsters: A Review of Lovecraft Short Stories

I can see why Lovecraft is the father of horror writing.  He writes the best monsters.  This week I’ve read three Lovecraft short stories, “Pickman,” “The Outsider,” and “The Call of Cthulhu.”  Lovecraft’s monsters worked for me on many levels.  Foremost, they are the supernatural horror monsters that are right …

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Borghese Gallery: Bernini; Emotional over Art

One of the highlights of my trip was standing in front of  Bernini’s sculptures.  Works of art I’d only studied from book, and honestly never thought I’d be able to see in person. I’ve never been one to become emotional over art but I can no longer say that. I …

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Monsters: Back to Barker—The Yattering and Jack: A short-story review

Clive Barker had done it again in the short story “The Yattering and the Jack.” I loved it! The story appears in The Book of Blood, Volume I. From the first paragraph, Barker captivated me and pulled me into the narrative. The Yattering is a low-ranking demon tasked to drive …

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Monsters: Holy Freaking Not What To Do To Your Readers Batman! A Review of Breeding Ground

Let me preface this review by saying I threw this stupid book across the room when I was through with it this morning! I am one pissed off reader who feels cheated of all by the time I spend eagerly turning the pages of Breeding Ground.  Dramatic?  Ya, maybe, but …

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How do you make yourself a priority–a real question.

How do we find direction? I suffer most from my own lack of direction. Spinning my wheels, running in circles, trying to figure out what to do next when everything is coming at me at one time. Everything needing attention, everything shouting over one another….look at me, I’m next, don’t …

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The Constant Demand, and what they DON’T SEE!

You are so organized.  You great at this.  You have gotten over your autism.  You are successful. They don’t see the tears.  They don’t see the meltdowns.  They don’t see the panic attacks.  They don’t see the bolting up in bed at night soaked in sweat, head reeling with all …

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I’ve been gone for so long…

I think about you all often, and I can’t seem to make my way to the keyboard. I’m drowning sometimes…drowning in fears, children’s needs, my own failures, and wrestling with my own perfection. Its been a hard few years…I almost said a few months, but it seems as though I …

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Navigating the Holidays with Autism: Part II: Family Gatherings

Family gatherings are the number one sited source of stress during the holidays for families touched by autism. Leaving the safety of home, traveling (even if just across town), and being expected to eat certain foods in a strange environment can be enough to cause a full-blown meltdown. When Family …

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