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Howdy all! I’m baaaack! Ready to relaunch my site and ready to start blogging and Facebooking again!
As you can imagine it’s been a strange year. Wifey and I separated last spring, I wrote about it last August and since then I’ve been at a loss as to what to write about and how to continue the blog.
Why, you ask?
Well for a bunch of different reasons…
First, because so much about my writing has been our little family dynamic. Husband, wife, and special needs son. And I wrote posts about how great our marriage was, and gave marriage advice, and even wrote a post years back “to the dads that left”…. And then when my marriage fell apart I felt like such a phony… but I’m over that now, and realize that sh-t happens, so it’s time for me to get back to writing…
But, what the heck can I write about moving forward?
The other aspect of my writing over the years has been to be very honest about my feelings with regards to everything that’s going on in my life. I’ve written about my depression, I shared my son’s seizure scares & VNS Surgery, I shared my dad’s eulogy when he died, and obviously I shared about the ups and downs of my marriage, and the ups and downs of raising a kid with special needs.
However, moving forward there’s some intimate/personal things that I can’t share or don’t want to share with y’all anymore. Obviously you’re not going to hear much about “wifey” anymore 🙂 We are on pretty good terms and I want to keep it that way, so I’m not going to share much about our situation going backwards or going forwards…. This is going to be a drama free zone.
So, I guess moving forward I will continue to write about raising a 14 year old son with severe, non-verbal autism and epilepsy (still has about one seizure a week), but even with that, I’m struggling with what to write about.
First off, I’m only an autism daddy half the time now, we have true 50/50 custody, so that cuts my stories and posts and interactions with my son in half.
And then when I am with my son, lately it feels like not much is going on. It sometimes feels like we are going thru the motions.
Also, I feel like I’ve written all my best autism blog posts in the past. That’s why I often repost an old blog post. I often feel like I don’t have anything new to write about….
However, every time I go do a speaking gig the feedback I get from you guys is you just want to read new content. You want to read whatever I feel like sharing, no matter how boring, or mundane, or grammatically incorrect it is. 🙂
So for you guys, I promise that I’m going to keep writing. I’m going to force myself. I’m going to be more disciplined. I’m going to get up a few times a week and stare at an empty computer screen and force myself to write something… like a real writer.
And as you can see I worked to redesign the look of the blog, to make it look more professional. That was for you, but also for me, as a way to jump start my creative juices…
And moving forward, on the new blog, I hope to be featuring more guest blog posts, including more from my niece Francesca, and from some other special needs dads & moms who are friends, some who are existing bloggers and some who are not.
Please feel free to contact me at theautismdaddy@gmail.com if you would like to write a guest blog post.
Also please feel free to contact me with ideas for what you would like me to write about and what you would like me to be moving forward.
I think I’m going to end this post here. I’m all over the place. As you can see I’m struggling with what this whole “Autism Daddy” platform will be moving forward. All I know is that it has been an integral part of my life for the past 7 years, and I need it to continue!
I hope you will continue to join me for the roller-coaster ride… with lots of new and unexpected twists and turns for 2018!
THE END
love your site. I recently came across it. I have a 10 yr son who I am FIGHTING to get a diagnosis for- anything, just anything PDD-NOS, Aspergers, etc. So far all we have gotten is ADHD- Inattentive. I’m concerned he will need a another diagnosis that could help later on down the road with jr high, high school and beyond . If you are looking for story ideas, I would LOVE to hear any advice or tips for those on the see-saw, the kids who go back and forth between NT and non-NT. Any advise for that inbetween area kid would be helpful. Thank you. I enjoy your articles.
Thank you for all the insights and help you share and for putting yourself out there for our benefit and the sake of our kids. I also have a non-verbal autistic son (9 years old) and had little answer to the question “where do we go from here?” other than your blog.
In ironic related news, last year my son’s neurologist asked me to consider writing a book about my experience of raising him and that it could help others. I drafted 90% of it, but as I started to poke around with the next steps, I came to believe a blog (which is interactive and has pictures and links) would be more effective than a book. Sooo…. would you have any tips for someone thinking of following in your footsteps? Knowing what you know now, if you had it all to do again, would you blog?
Last of all, I’m just one little stranger out in internetland, but for what it’s worth, I sure do hope you give yourself permission to take time for yourself. Last week I saw a quote that said, “Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping”. We caretakers seldom do that, but please consider it.
Best and warmest wishes to you, AutismDaddy.
I’m so glad you are back!! I’d love to hear how the King transitioned to having a new home… how has he fine with the separation?!
I have to say your blogs have gotten me through a lot of rough times. My son is five and while he can say words and numbers we are not really sure that he comprehends what is going on. We have made a lot of huge steps forward since he started going to pre-K but there’s still so much I’m unsure about. You sir are an inspiration and I’ve often thought about starting my own blog but don’t want to be a copycat. Thank you, I look forward to continuing to read your stuff.
Welcome back!
So glad you’re back, I love your work!
I see that you aren’t posting certain personal things. What I think, though, that you could really bring an interesting perspective on is dating while parenting a child on the Spectrum. You may not be ready for dating yet, and that’s OK. I just see this question posted a lot on the support groups that I’m a part of, and think that would be a great topic to explore. Just something to think about.
Welcome Back Autism Daddy! We’ve missed you!
So glad you are back!!!
Glad to see that you are back. The feedback I get on my occasional VLoG (the education of BT) is that people love it and they always want more. I go through our crazy days coming up with the content but do t always have the energy tideo. I get it! I do hope that you start writing be although you may not think it is your interest, others do and for many reasons. Pam
Glad to see you are back Frank. I’ve missed your Autism Daddy blog and understand when life changes we have to reboot! I am an autism Nana of a non verbal 12 year old grandson. He is my oldest daughters youngest child. She and her husband have their hands full and I try to be as helpful as I can be. Thank you for sharing with all of us.
“Autism Nana”! I love that! Your daughter and her family are lucky to have you.
Great job. I’d love to see you and the king going on more adventures like the indoor skydiving. You did let us know he tolerated the helmet and suit; I would love to know his reaction to it. Sat across from you at trackside 50 when you spoke at esu!
Nice to hear from you again Autism Daddy. I’d be interested to know your take on recent controversial books (To Siri With Love / Autism Uncensored). As an autism mom I have mixed feelings but want to validate the pain these writings cause in the autism self-advocacy movement.
Hi Autism Dad. There seems to be a lot of writing from those with young children with autism. And then there’s those of us, mostly single, finding our way with young adults. You don’t hear so much along these lines. To me it’s like forging the path for those behind us. It’s a tale of True Grit. Keep on writing
Welcome back! I too have a son on the spectrum. Keeping a marriage and my sanity have been a struggle in the past year. I’m the “realist” in my family whereas my husband hasn’t come to terms yet. Thank you for sharing your life and being real. ?