Have you ever learned a new word and then suddenly discovered that it seemed to be everywhere? It was always there, but you just never noticed it. It’s the same with autism too, I think. Recently, I’ve started noticing autistic tendencies in people that I never had before. Some of the people who I had previously thought were simply quirky now seem to me to be undiagnosed members of the spectrum.

SPOILER ALERT: This blog discusses the topic of Santa Claus. Not approved for children.
Mason believes what he sees. Literally.
Oreo Cookies exist because he sees them. Milk exists because he sees it AND they taste great with his oreo cookies.
He’s observed Santa Claus from a safe 50 foot distance at the mall. Getting him to sit in a strange fat man’s lap wasn’t going to happen. It’s those untrusting issues with persons he doesn’t know, plus I strongly suspect that the beard freaks him out.

On November 4th 2004 our lives were forever changed. It was our D-Day…Diagnosis Day.
Rashele and I were clueless as to what the world of autism would bring us. Some lessons were learned quickly, others we’re still learning. One thing that was apparent, our marriage would suffer. Like most couples, any time we had to ourselves fell to the wayside.
The stress of the constant shuttle of doctor and therapy appointments, denials by the insurance company, a quickly dwindling savings account took its toll. Pressure mounted and we many times took the troubles out on each other.