Two things

One of my professors, whose son has Asperger's, have lent me two books.

 "The Out-of-Sync Child" by Carol Stock Kranowitz (New York: Skylight Press, 1998) and "Look Me In The Eye: My Life With Asperger's" by John Elder Robinson (New York: Crown Publishers, 2007). Who knew that Augusten Burroughs was his brother? Not me. Here's what Augusten says in the forward, on encouraging his brother to write an accessible book for other people to understand Asperger's.

"Aren't there any proper books for these people? I wondered. To my amazement, I discovered there was not all that much out there on the subject.  There were a few scholarly works, and some simpler though still clinical texts that made people feel the best they could do for their Asperger children would be to buy them a mainframe computer and not worry about teaching table manners."

Okay. That's kind of funny.

I know that what I'm staring at is huge. I know that understanding what is going on with Ezra at this early stage will be a blessing for him throughout his childhood. Because most Aspies are so intelligent, many adults are able to "fake it" in social situations and not appear, on the surface, any stranger than your average geek. For children, it's so much more difficult. They struggle with sensory perception, being able to express themselves, interacting on very simple levels with family members, AND all of the normal "kid stuff": stubbornness, siblings, school, weird food, unreasonable bedtimes, no candy.  I have nothing else to say about it. Except that I know it's huge.

My sister Hazel also gets props here. She's the only person who can build something sturdy and sustainable from what most people would consider candy floss. I wish her the best of luck in her groovy, community-centered, tikkun olam endeavor.  Nobody tikkun olams like my sister.

Twice in the past she's reminded me of Enki, a way of teaching children that I'd run into a while ago and sort of forgotten about. Turns out Enki focuses a lot on sensory integration and some parents of Asperger children have found it extremely helpful.  Once again, way to go sis. 

This ( http://www.enkieducation.org/html/holistic-homeschooling.htm ) was enormously helpful for me to read.  Goal for the afternoon: stop trying to engage Ezra in conversation like I'm a @#$*(#U&!! boyscout troop leader.  I desperately want to know what he's thinking, and in the end he just clams up.