Just like dooce.com, but with autism?

July 23, 2008 11:24 PM

Which irreverent, funny parenting blogs have extra added autism?

My 4 year old recently got a diagnosis of (very) high IQ and autism and I'm looking for stories from people in a similar position.

Type 'autism blog' into google and you get plenty of hits. But I'm looking for really good blogs from parents who are dealing with young kids wih autism.

I've been reading Dooce and Schuyler's Monster for 5 years and they have helped keep me sane when dealing with a my 'special' kid. :-) I love their humour and their refusal to pretend that children are perfect little gifts or that being a parent is not anything but a joy. The Poo Bomb was the best medicine for us too, when the kid was a horrible, dificult, terrible baby.

We deal with a lot of the same stuff that Leta and Schuyler's parents deal with, but they don't have autism. I know it would do us all good to read a blog by someone who is in the same place we are. Who should we be reading?

posted by pootler to human relations (13 comments total)

Not quite the same type of humor as Dooce, but definitely with extra added autism - Kim Stagliano and some of her posts on HP.
posted by PY at 11:46 PM on July 23, 2008

Defective Yeti isn't specifically a parenting blog, but he does write about his son from time to time. Here's the first post that mentions autism.
posted by adiabat at 12:11 AM on July 24, 2008 [1 favorite]

Squid is a friend of mine and she's fucking awesome.
posted by w0mbat at 2:02 AM on July 24, 2008

MagnetoboldToo? Here's today's posting. NSFW.
posted by Solomon at 2:18 AM on July 24, 2008 [1 favorite]

Squid is a friend of mine and she's awesome.

If I had an autistic child that's the first blog I'd hit.
posted by konolia at 5:59 AM on July 24, 2008

It's a Jan's Life
posted by The corpse in the library at 6:33 AM on July 24, 2008

Ali Edwards has a fantastic blog. Her son has Autism and she writes about him frequently. Her Autism category is full of good stuff.
posted by mewithoutyou at 11:44 AM on July 24, 2008

I have no advice regarding blogs, but my 6-year-old son is in the moderate to severe range with a high IQ, and we've seen a ton of strange behavior that hits every major characteristic of autism. Feel free to mefi-mail if you have any specific questions. I know I needed a lot at that stage. And of course, don't take everything too seriously. Every professional you come across will try to shock you with horror stories. It's not all as bad as everyone says.
posted by mitzyjalapeno at 11:52 AM on July 24, 2008

I didn't describe Squid's blog very well. It's exactly what you asked for. Her blog is funny and well-written and biting, and it's mostly about parenting her son, the middle kid, who is autistic. Her blog also links to all the other blogs you'd ever need on the subject, and if you go back through past posts she's covered just about everything over the years.
posted by w0mbat at 1:34 PM on July 24, 2008

Thanks, adiabat. I've neglected Defective Yeti for a while and had missed this...now that I work at a therapy center for kids affected by autism, that post was even more poignant. But, as always, his writing was interesting and somehow still funny...
posted by gracious floor at 2:41 PM on July 24, 2008

Yeah, I third Squid - I read her blog daily and have for years, and I don't have kids. She's just awesome.
posted by annathea at 4:48 PM on July 24, 2008

I'm a fan of This Mom, though her posts are more...quiet? Thoughtful? Though that's not to say Dooce isn't, it's just that the humour in the latter is based more in Fluffy's brilliance than it is in punctuating an anecdote in ALL CAPS. I like them both, the way I could have a chocolate chip and a peanut butter cookie, and love them both.
posted by peagood at 9:58 PM on July 24, 2008

You are awesome. Magneto Bold is perfect - sounds like us, but to a more extreme degree. And with more swearing. But less poop.

And the others are all great too - I'm really enjoying them. This is exactly what I needed. Thanks!
posted by pootler at 11:06 PM on July 25, 2008