Author: James Guttman

Father of two children - one non-verbal with autism, one verbal without.

Teaching Him “Hello”

I still understood next to nothing about Autism and even less about what it would be like to have a non-verbal child.

Glitter, rainbows, and the pure, unadulterated chaos of a Scandinavian Death Metal mosh pit.

I guess I’m supposed to be wiser now. After all, I’m 40.

The hour would end, the door would close, and we would all be alone together again.

We use phrases like “they love me in their own way” or “deep down, he means well”…

As the parent to a child with Autism, it pulls me back to the early days of his life…

The problem was that I was seeing my life as a movie.

The thing is, I get it. I get why he wants to run around in the middle of the night…

That’s when being really cool became something I talk about in the past tense.

My parenthood is neither painful nor does it require relief. When I say that I accept my son as he is, I’m not trying to fool myself and others.