Healthcare Crisis in Autism Adulthood
In early May I wrote another piece for Psychology Today and you can read it here. (Source: Susan's Blog)
Source: Susan's Blog - May 4, 2018 Category: Child Development Authors: Susan Senator Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
Musical Instruction and Performance: A Game-Changer for Autism
I have just published a piece in Psychology Today, about music being a game-changer for autistic adults. I based the piece on both anecdotal and personal experience (with Nat and his rock band), as well as research. (Source: Susan's Blog)
Source: Susan's Blog - April 16, 2018 Category: Child Development Authors: Susan Senator Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
Autism Adulthood
Salon.com published an excerpt (“Someone Hurt My Son”) from my book’s updated edition. You can read the excerpt here. It is an essay about what happened when Nat came home for the 4th of July two years ago and we discovered a fist-sized bruise on his chest and broken ribs. The new (April 3!) edition of Autism Adulthood: Insights and Creative Strategies for a Fulfilled Life, is now available everywhere. The new edition has some new interviews, a new chapter on trauma and healing, and many new resources. And a new cover! (Source: Susan's Blog)
Source: Susan's Blog - April 5, 2018 Category: Child Development Authors: Susan Senator Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
The Lonely Witch
Near a small village where the river flowed into a deep narrow valley lived a young witch woman with hair as black and as long as a winter’s night. She lived with a cat the color of smoke, in a curious house painted a strange blue such as no one had ever seen before in this village of brick huts. Though the woman was a witch, the people were not afraid of her, for she had never set an evil spell in anyone’s memory. She made music, and she made magic. Her music was sweet and high pitched, like the hum of honeybees. And the only magic she practiced was making potions for the townspeople’s ills. If someone had a sleepin...
Source: Susan's Blog - February 4, 2018 Category: Child Development Authors: Susan Senator Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
The Caregiver
There was once a woman who lived in a castle. She had everything she wanted, everything she needed — the finest food, plentiful drink, bountiful silks, warm woolens, the softest leather shoes. Her castle had tall windows cut into pink rock, and they lined the strong walls, curving around the towers and drawing in sunlight from every angle. The woman was known far and wide for her learnedness, her ability to understand even the most difficult of problems, and to solve them for the people of the land in a gentle manner that made them feel both cared for and empowered at the same time. She was beloved by all.
The woman ...
Source: Susan's Blog - January 25, 2018 Category: Child Development Authors: Susan Senator Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
The Mandolin
Dear Readers, I have improved this story. See what you think.
Many years ago, in a small village across the sea, there lived a woodsman and his wife and their infant son. Every day the woodsman went into the forest to cut wood and then shape it into bowls, plates, and anything else that was needed, and sell it to the people in the nearby villages. The woodsman loved his wife very much and would carve for her small things out of the wood scraps.
The woodsman’s wife was a beautiful young woman known far and wide for her beauty and for her healing powers. It was said that her green eyes, so unusual in color, could loo...
Source: Susan's Blog - January 24, 2018 Category: Child Development Authors: Susan Senator Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
The Reflection
There once was a girl who was born ugly. From the very start, everyone thought that word when they looked at her, and some even used it in her presence.. But what did it mean? No one could say, but everyone felt they knew. They’d heard it from others before, so that is how they knew what ugly was.
The one thing everyone knew was that ugly was bad. No one would ever want to be ugly.
In the case of the young girl, her face did not please. Her jawline wavered, not firm and straight. Her nose was graceless, long and bumpy. Her skin was mottled gray and bruised pink. Although she could speak, her words came out strange. S...
Source: Susan's Blog - January 21, 2018 Category: Child Development Authors: Susan Senator Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
Reflection
There once was a girl who was born ugly. From the very start, everyone thought that word when they looked at her, and some even used it in her presence.. But what did it mean? No one could say, but everyone felt they knew. They’d heard it from others before, so that is how they knew what ugly was.
The one thing everyone knew was that ugly was bad. No one would ever want to be ugly.
In the case of the young girl, her face did not please. Her jawline wavered, not firm and straight. Her nose was graceless, long and bumpy. Her skin was mottled gray and bruised pink. Although she could speak, her words came out strange. S...
Source: Susan's Blog - January 21, 2018 Category: Child Development Authors: Susan Senator Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
Here
She could not stop smiling. Her face was so warm, she was inside-her-own-face warm. “Nobody rises” they were singing in the background. His voice was a terracotta pot, smooth, round, just so right. They were all harmonizing yellow, again, just right. A springtime of yellow. The new shoots from the ground were her friends, she’d kind of just made them, the friends. It was no effort. She had only experienced that one other time, and that was with Him. The sweetness of it, sun-warmed chocolate, back-of-your-tongue thick.
These people, each better than the next, and all the next and before, so so so beautiful...
Source: Susan's Blog - January 21, 2018 Category: Child Development Authors: Susan Senator Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
The Mandolin
Many years ago, in a small village across the sea, there lived a woodsman and his wife and their infant son. Every day the woodsman went into the forest to cut wood and then shape it into bowls, plates, and anything else that was needed, and sell it to the people in the nearby villages. The woodsman loved his wife very much and would carve for her small things out of the wood scraps.
The woodsman’s wife was a beautiful young woman known far and wide for her beauty and for her healing powers. It was said that her green eyes, so unusual in color, could look into a body and see the sickness. Even though she was so you...
Source: Susan's Blog - December 22, 2017 Category: Child Development Authors: Susan Senator Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
The Boy Who Sang Like the Wind
Once upon a time, there was a very young mother with a tiny baby boy. At first the boy was happy, but he became very sad and quiet at times. The very young mother, who loved him very much, was worried and sad and did not know what to do for him.
She asked her mother what to do. “He’s beautiful,” her mother said, for she could see all of the boy’s magic, but she did not know how to summon it. “Give him other children to play with and you’ll see, he will be happy once more.”
So the very young mother went out to the garden where other little boys and girls were playing. The boys and g...
Source: Susan's Blog - December 18, 2017 Category: Child Development Authors: Susan Senator Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
Subtle and Overt Exclusion of People with Disabilities
At some point, I remember the joy I felt when I realized that I could drop Nat off at a given social group outing or event without staying, without a one-to-one. To be honest, my happiness was in part because it was easier for me, but I believe that Nat also enjoyed the freedom from the buffering aide. (Ahh, that universal burning resentment we parents and self-advocates feel about having to worry about the one-to-one accommodation for the extracurricular activities! Particularly joining in the “Neurotypical People” social activities. It’s almost always on us to find someone who understands our guy and it...
Source: Susan's Blog - December 15, 2017 Category: Child Development Authors: Susan Senator Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
Sunday Boston Globe 12/10/17
Enjoy my latest column in the Sunday Boston Globe Magazine online now! (Source: Susan's Blog)
Source: Susan's Blog - December 8, 2017 Category: Child Development Authors: Susan Senator Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
A Ziegfeld Mom
“I’m a Ziegfeld Girl,” Barbara Streisand as Fanny Brice says to her reflection in the mirror in the wonderful movie Funny Girl. She means she has finally finally made it to the top. She would now be one of the Ziegfeld Follies, who put on gigantic staged numbers in the early 20th century.
Ned and I use that line with each other when we feel we have gotten to a pinnacle in our lives. When the New York Times Magazine published my Lives piece a few years ago. Lives! When I was on the Today Show. When I was invited to the White House for a dinner. Ned’s had his share of such honors as well. More than on...
Source: Susan's Blog - December 8, 2017 Category: Child Development Authors: Susan Senator Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
All that ’ s gold may not glitter
The name, or the concept, of “group home” is not pretty. I’ve heard people say, “we need a new term for group home.” The term falls from the lips like something dry and dusty. It’s a dead end. Ugly.
If a group home is run well, though, it is beautiful. Look below at a typical monthly calendar from Nat’s group home. What you should notice is that the activities are not necessarily blockbuster Disney-level exciting things. But this does not matter. AT ALL. What matters is that they follow this monthly calendar pretty much without fail. The manager gets it to us right at the beginning...
Source: Susan's Blog - December 1, 2017 Category: Child Development Authors: Susan Senator Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
