Entries by Alan Dunn

The Wheelchair Icon Discussion

Is it time to update the International Symbol of Access to represent all the special needs that need accommodations? Over the last decade, the global community has made great progress in the recognition of special needs. Whether it’s Autism, Down Syndrome or ALS, few can argue that people are less aware of special needs than […]

Ignorance Is an Ugly Word

April is Autism Awareness month, and every year at this time I think about writing something. Typically, it never works out, as I get sidetracked by other ventures or just life in general. This year, however, I think it’s important to address one issue we constantly see in the comments or discussions by those unfamiliar […]

An Open Letter to Family and Friends of Autism

“If you have met one child with Autism, well, you have met one child with Autism”. While these words perfectly sum up the complexity of Autism, they are limited to the diagnosis itself. These words do not speak to the needs of parents. Needs which are critically vital to the health and mind of those […]

An Open Letter to New Parents of Autism

  Parenthood. It’s a beautiful thing. As soon as that pregnancy test shows positive or that adoption call is received, your world changes. Your hopes and dreams are modified to include hopes and dreams for your children. Visions of holidays and birthday parties dance in the air. The word “Mother” or “Father” is suddenly not […]

A Bad Mom. Oh No, You Never.

Last week we shared a link on Facebook to an article titled, “I Admit It: I Like My Child Better When He Is Drugged.” It was written by Kristie Mae, the creator of Abandoning Pretense and a regular contributor at Nickmom.com and Bluntmoms.com. Kristie did not ask us to share the link. I logged into Facebook […]

350,000 Miles. Thank You US Airways.

Traveling with children can be difficult. Traveling with a child on the spectrum can be even more so. Last month marked a big milestone for us. US Airways officially become American Airlines, my son’s favorite airline. In the past 3 years we have recorded over 350,000 miles collectively on US Airways, and for over a […]

The Right Place. The Right Time.

Words can rarely ever express my thoughts on Autism. Some days I feel robbed, other days I feel inspired but most days I feel overwhelmed. However, there is one thing I am pretty consistent about. When somebody tells me “It was not supposed to be like this”, I cringe. What exactly was parenthood supposed to […]

Sesame Street Introduces Julia – a Muppet with Autism.

We absolutely LOVE this. Sesame Street is the definition of Ausome™ today. Autism Daddy mentioned a couple weeks ago that Sesame Street had a big autism initiative coming and, well, you never doubt Sesame Street. One visit to autism.sesamestreet.org will show you how dedicated Sesame Street is to creating broader awareness of Autism. The campaign is […]

Autism Daddy is Out.

Anyone familiar with Autism has likely heard of Autism Daddy. However, up until today very few people know who was behind this great blog. Launched in 2011, Autism Daddy quickly rose to the top of reading lists in the autism community from Autism Daddy’s humor, honesty and family perspective. The boy (commonly referred to as […]

Autism. Boys will be Boys.

As any parent will tell you, time flies. My son just turned 10, which means he is now that much closer to being a teenager. When he was 9 years and 364 days old it still seemed far far away. There is something about the number 10 that puts the whole growing concept in perspective. […]