About

Who
Squid D'Artagnan Rosenberg. Grouchy, hairtrigger-tempered, foul-mouthed, self-indulgent SAHM. Extremely polite in person. Morbid fascination with cephalopods. One sweet, patient, understanding partner, Seymour. Three children: Isobel "Iz" (7, pistol), Leelo (5, autistic), and Mali (21 months, darling but sleep-averse). Mali is welcome, but not planned for. And, so you don't have to wonder, or ask, there's a 1 in 20 chance that she will be autistic too. She's enrolled in a clinical study on Infant Siblings of Autistic Children, just so's we'll have our worries officially monitored. As of 8/06 she has once again been officially certified as developmentally on target.

What
Mostly ramblings about my son's autism and how we are grappling with that via behavioral therapy, mostly abandoning the DAN protocol, etc. Also I brag a whole fuck of a lot about my kids. As this is my blog. And that is my right. But, hey, now you can think to yourself "I will never be that obnoxious in my writings."

Where
Bay Area, Baby.

When
Since July 2003. Especially when I'm pissed off.

Why
Because otherwise my head would explode. I wouldn't wish autism on any parent. I also know it's not the worst thing that could happen. Sometimes, though, it really really just fucking sucks.

How
Mostly by unhinging safeguards such as my senses of compassion, propriety, and/or humor. I am also very gifted at talking out of my ass, rolling in adverbs, and abusing the word "just."

Autism Books and Resources


9.13.2006 I will be updating the following section soon. But let's just say that I no longer recommend recovery stories like Let Me Hear Your Voice and Unravellling the Mystery of Autism, or even A Real Boy to families with newly diagnosed children.

Autism in General
Temple Grandin, Thinking in Pictures

ABA Therapy
Catherine Maurice: Let Me Hear Your Voice, Behavioral Intervention for Young Children With Autism

Dietary Interventions and Autism
Karyn Seroussi, Unraveling the Mystery of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorder; Lisa Lewis, Special Diets for Special Kids

It doesn't do any harm to try a GFCF diet, right now. Check out Karyn Seroussi and Lisa Lewis's books for instructions. The diet is a pain in the ass, but it is also non-invasive. With so many Whole Foods popping up all over, the inconvenience is less of an issue for many parents. Online ordering resources are available as well, but since there is a Hole right here in town I'll admit I've not investigated them much.

Christina Adams's A Real Boy, which concerns the recovery of a high-functioning but definitely autistic child. A good read about a parent's agressive and successful campaign using a broad spectrum of approaches.

Support
I am always happy to answer emailed questions, whether I know the answers or not. Keep in mind that I can be a crappy correspondent. I try to reply upon receipt, but am not always successful. You can contact me at:

aba_help
@
yahoo.com

Please do not contact me via any other means without my permission. This blog is anonymous for a reason.

If you are looking for local support, I would search Yahoo! groups for local email boards to hook up with. I, for instance, belong to:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/autism-bi0med-bayarea/

and

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/peninsu1aparentssnk/

If unlike me you lurk less and join more, try organizations like the very excellent Parents Helping Parents.