It was such a fixture of pre-millenial politics to position children within any policy discussion that it bordered on satire to invoke their existence. To that extent The Simpsons created the “OK Boomer” of child politics when Reverend Lovejoy’s wife Helen, shrieked hysterically “Won’t somebody please think of the children!”…

Things were bad this year. Charlie’s IEP was changed last Spring when the District sent their bulldog to enforce changes seemingly part of a larger strategy that had little to do with Charlie’s education. They wanted him in a different program. They wanted him in a different school. They wanted…

My first live wrestling event was a house show in Denver. The Ultimate Warrior pinned Ravishing Rick Rude. I was 10 years old. In the years that followed my father would take me to dozens of wrestling shows, from Royal Rumble to Wrestlemania to the night in Los Angeles when…

I walk into Charlie’s after school program to pick him up at least three times a week. I pass a woman who regularly rushes back to her car, kids in tow, muttering something sarcastic and horribly inappropriate about how “great” it is to have to see her kids which I…

Charlie and I lay in our hammock the other night listening to Amy Winehouse. He turned 6 last month. Even though he’s young it’s like having an adult body next to mine. As a parent, autism can either be trivial or substantial depending on the time of year and the…

My wife texted me the link: “FDA Grants ‘Breakthrough Therapy’ Status to Potential Autism Drug” I sighed. Then texted, “I don’t know how I feel about this.” She responded, “Agree”. The cure for autism is a problematic concept for our family. We would never thrust it upon Charlie. It would…

I wanted to walk out of Django Unchained. My wife and I saw the film during a trip to Vegas, our first getaway since our son was born, and just weeks after Sandy Hook. The scene in which Django kills Calvin’s house guests was too much. At one point he…

“If you actually cared about your child we wouldn’t be in this situation. He is your fault.” Patty belittled me in the living room of her home the day she kicked Charlie out of her daycare program. The act in itself was discrimination. Charlie being the only autistic child in…

I became an autism advocate because of one simple principle. That people who have autism deserve equality and respect. It’s a message so simple it tends to allude the experts. …