How playing with my son in HIS way opened him up for joint attention with others — Lining up of objects is, in common autism discourse, regarded negatively as a symptom or a red flag. But I’ve always been fascinated by it. One of my son’s occupational therapists (he’s had three) thankfully sees it as fascinating too, rather than scary or deeply problematic. An autistic child’s predisposition…

And other thoughts while watching ‘The Sandman’ — I watched The Sandman as someone familiar with, but who hasn’t read yet, the books (so fans, please be kind). Fortunately, I’ve got colleagues in the Literature department who sometimes included The Sandman in their syllabi, finding in teaching the permission to geek out about it. So when I reacted…

On the monsters and landscapes of ‘Stranger Things’ — Reducing Stranger Things to a mental health allegory won’t do justice to the lore and themes of the show. Though the psychological character of the Upside Down only became pronounced with the introduction of Vecna/Henry Creel in Season 4, who had apparently shaped it to resemble his personal darkness, as…

My own great resignation from academia — The fading away began when the last of my former students — former, because it had been months since I last taught — turned in their belated essays at the beginning of 2022. Fireworks were setting off for the third pandemic year, hopefully the last. In the Philippines, we were…

Experience of an NT mom to an autistic child — Autism tends to run in families. However, in our families (mine and my husband’s), before our son Joaquin came along, there were no autistics. At the least, no one who self-diagnosed, was clinically diagnosed, or was suspected to be autistic. Our three-year-old son was diagnosed three months ago. I’ve begun…

Updated bio — The decision to join Medium as a writer in April 2020 turned out to be life-saving to my creative and mental health. This, during a time of unexpected but inevitable transition. The pandemic unexpectedly hastened the inevitable for me. The pandemic, in crumbling down pseudo-defenses and excuses, in bringing front…

On a couple of lounge beds A couple A woman — lying on one bed, face down, and A man — on the other bed, Sitting up with a book. One hand, his left, is holding up the book His fingers on its spine While the other hand, his right, Is scratching the…

My baby’s prolonged babyhood — When my children were little, I liked it the most when they were 1 year old. No longer a baby who just lies there and coos. But a bigger, mobile, and responsive baby — yet a baby, still! Toddling around the house with unbridled curiosity. Babbling back to you. …