3 mins read

Explaining Schedules to My Son with Autism

Back to the conversation of my son and his best friend… My son has a schedule inside his head. He knows when he has some things scheduled, like school and Teen Club, and even sporting activities. But, he also has—in his own head—expected times when he can do fun things like go to his friend’s…

7 mins read

Explaining HB2 to My Son With Autism

My son is thirteen, very intelligent, thoughtful, and asks a lot of questions about current affairs. So, after I mentioned that his aunt, who lives in North Carolina, was upset at the recent canceled concert by Bruce Springsteen, my son asked why. I don't know about most parents, but with my son, I fell he's…

2 mins read

Explaining World Events to a Child with Autism

With the recent events in France on everyone's mind, how do you discuss a tragic world event with your child with autism? How did I talk to my child about the events in France? My son and I were together when a news report came out on NPR about the terror attacks in France. I…

6 mins read

Explaining Bruce Jenner and Transgender To Kids

Before last Friday night, only 8% of Americans knew someone who was transgender – whose gender identity does not match the sex he or she was born with. Today, an additional 16.8 million people who watched Diane Sawyer’s groundbreaking ABC interview with Olympian Bruce Jenner know someone who is transgender: Jenner himself. Jenner spent nearly two…

6 mins read

Explaining Bill Cosby to Kids

My job is to write and speak about the complexity and impact of violence against women. This means I talk, almost every day, about stories people would rather avoid. The Bill Cosby rape allegations were naturally something I recently wrote about, and discussed in radio and TV interviews. Often when tackling tricky subjects in public,…