Excerpt from book:
Soon afterward, his language stopped developing, and eventually he lost the language skills he already had.
He stopped responding to his name.
You could even bang pots & pans behind him, and he wouldn’t respond.
…
But we knew it was something more.
…
Around this time, I overheard some acquaintances worrying that their 4 year old might be gay.
It made me SO MAD.
I thought:
‘Give me a f*cking break.
You know that your child can grow to be happy, independent & fall in love.
I’d trade ANYTHING for that knowledge, and you’re freaking out that your son might be GAY.”
…it’s hard to give everyone the attention they deserve.
It could be like crisis mode all the time.
In many ways, all of our worlds revolved around Jackson. And sometimes, we didn’t have much left for each other.
I try to look at his drawings to understand his brain.
I wish I could get in his head, even for a few minutes, so I could better understand his world.
He loves the same things he loved 20 years ago. He loves Disney characters, and muppets.
There’s no war in his world.
There’s no financial crisis,
or crime,
or unemployment.
There’s no racism.
No rich or poor.
[What’s the hardest part about raising a child with autism?]
Not being sure if your child loves you.
[Do you know now?]
Yes.
The Calculating Mind 