Personal Narrative Archives - Autism Parenting Magazine

Category Archives for "Personal Narrative"

Articles written by people affected by autism (mom, dad, grandparent, sibling) or someone who is on the spectrum sharing personal accounts, happy moments, fears, etc.

A Mother’s Gift: Our First Kiss

After a long day full of unexpected fun in the snow (daddy got to stay home) and a car ride with no destination in mind, I never imagined the gift that was going to come as we were getting ready for bed. Per our routine we go upstairs after dinner for an hour of play; […]

Life With Asperger’s: Learning As I Go

I’m scrunched up under a desk. My 3rdgrade teacher, Mrs. Alexander, implores me to come out and participate. I reply with grunts. All I want is my Game Boy Advance. That was me throughout elementary school—an unfiltered troublemaker who lacked the skills to assimilate into his surroundings. All thanks to something called Asperger’s. It’s the […]

Thank you, Asperger’s

In 2016, this former newspaper columnist learned he has Asperger’s. Big picture, I’m okay with it. Oh, I often wonder what it would be like to live 24 hours as a social gadfly. Have a bunch of friends. Go to parties. Be voted Most Popular. To not bite my fingernails until they bleed. To not […]

The Amazing Ways My Kids With ASD Have Shaped Me As a Mom

I am the mother of four amazing children ages 21, 12, 10, and 10; three boys with one girl right in the middle. Each one has their individual strengths and weaknesses. With each of my children, I have gone through a learning phase as a parent. With my oldest, I was a new mom. So […]

When Protecting Your Child With Autism Is Misunderstood

It seems that we as parents of complex children are judged at every turn. But there is no judgment more supreme or detrimental as a letter from Children and Youth Services—a letter detailing you are under investigation by the government because someone in the world, as an outsider looking in, has viewed your parenting in […]

Motherhood: Finding Their Joy…and Yours

My mother always told me, “Motherhood is not for wimps.” No truer words can be spoken for any parent of a child on the spectrum. What keeps us going are the day to day and sometimes the moment to moment joys. As parents, watching our autistic children succeed or be valued for their contribution to […]

Building Magical Connections Under the Sun

There she was, about 50 yards away from our camp, near her big blue umbrella in the warm sun. She was seated in her low-to-the-ground beach chair with her solitary green bucket nearby. She loved to watch the ocean birds, the seagulls, the packs of quick-footed sand peckers racing back and forth while poking at […]

Inspired Man With Autism Wants to Reshape Education For All

My name is Matthew Punter and I have autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and pathological demand avoidance (PDA). Early this month I was invited to Cambridge University for consideration to study psychology and behavioral sciences. Unbelievably, two years prior I had the literacy age of a seven-year-old and knew nothing of the world […]

It’s Time to Let My Amazing Teen with Autism Be Her Own Person

I knew it was coming and I’m ashamed to say I honestly didn’t want her to go. Not because I thought she would have a less than stellar time, but because I knew she would be flying solo, dancing alone, placidly moving amongst her peers in a school gym minus the entanglements of awkward middle-school […]

Heaven Must Be a Little Like My Dance Class

I enter the room late. My brother drives me to ballroom dance class on time, but I get stuck in the car and can’t move. I have this pair of swim goggles that I had just modified, having cut out all the rubbery parts except for most of the strap. I am enjoying the crisp […]

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