As crazy as it sounds, Jake and I were not prepared for me contracting HIV. And we did not handle it well. It truly almost broke up our marriage/relationship. We got caught up in the riptide of emotions and thoughts that came from the shock of the diagnosis. I put a lot of blame on … Continue reading Maximus The Great: How HIV Prepared Us for Autism
In my family, much like any other Latino family-we’re loud. The colors on our walls are bright, the food is seasoned with a cornucopia of flavors, we hug a lot, we kiss a lot. Everything we instinctively do, the cultural practices and traditions of who we are is a nightmare for autistic children. My son … Continue reading Maximus The Great: Being Latino & Autistic is hard.
Being the parent to a special needs child would be so much easier if the world wasn’t full of reminders that you’re kid, and thus your life are different or wrong, or sick, etc.
So you’ve gone and done your Special Education Evaluation with your school district and you wait. It may feel like forever, I know but soon you will have your ARD meeting (ARD = Admission, Review, Dismissal) where you’ll review the options for your child within the special education system. After the evaluation, the school district … Continue reading Maximus The Great: 3 things you should before your first ARD
It's the day after and the stirring silence from friends and family is an indicator of the fear leftover from election night. But I have to put that away right now. Because my son needs me. I want to rant and rave and be pissed then take a deep breath and say ok, I'm moving … Continue reading The day after, I had bigger fish to fry.
He’s three. He’s had three birthday parties. Three Christmases. Three Easter holidays. He’s three and has had double as many assessments than birthdays, holidays, and years on this earth. They started when he first failed a milestone survey at 2 and half and his Early Head Start teacher asked me to meet with ECI. At that … Continue reading Maximus The Great: It’s Official.
Esposa Experience 