Kathy Briccetti's Blog

• Asperger's Valentine's Day

  February 13, 2009

  • On Valentine’s Day, twelve-year-old Ben races into the house and heads straight to the kitchen. “Are we having Cactus?” he asks Pam. “Yes, you’re having a treat tonight,” she says. “But is it Cactus?” Cactus Taqueria is his favorite burrito restaurant.“You’re having a burrito, yes.” “But is it Cactus?” By this time I’ve joined them. “I think he needs a clear, ...
  • Continue Reading » 2 Comments

• is anyone selling nontraditional literary memoir?

  January 31, 2009

  • Here's another excerpt of my memoir-in-progress about working with children on the autism spectrum while raising a son with Asperger's Syndrome.(Part 7)  PrescriptionEvery week, the special education teacher and I spend several hours meeting with parents whose children are struggling in school. Some have learning problems, some behavioral. Over the years, I get good at dispensing advice at ...
  • Continue Reading » 0 Comments

• further adventures...

  January 24, 2009

  • Here’s another installment from my memoir-in-progress about raising a son with Asperger’s Syndrome while working as a school psychologist.   Direct Hit            I’m sitting across the table from a kindergarten girl with Down’s Syndrome when she lets go an explosive, uncovered sneeze. The droplets land on my face like rain from a cloudburst. One drop lands in the recess of my ...
  • Continue Reading » 0 Comments

• Adventures in the world of autism (continued)

  January 19, 2009

  • tantrum [tan-truh m] -noun A violent demonstration of rage or frustration; a sudden burst of ill temper.  A fit of bad temper. Also called hissy fit. Welcome to the world of tantrumsAt the picture window, Ben waves good-bye to Pam and Thomas in the mornings, and then with the same hand makes the sign for "I love you" and then waves, alternating the two over and over. When Pam ...
  • Continue Reading » 2 Comments

• Adventures in the world of autism (continued)

  January 10, 2009

  • Stealth We have nicknamed our second-born son “Mellow Man,” attributing his easy-going personality to his status as a second child. He falls asleep anywhere and wakes up happy. At eighteen months, he lets me rub creamy SPF 48 lotion on his chubby arms and legs, smoothing it on his soft baby skin, sitting on my lap for this ritual. He is a sensory sponge; he can’t get enough cuddling, ...
  • Continue Reading » 4 Comments

• Adventures in the world of autism (continued)

  January 3, 2009

  • Lovey Boy The first time Ben saw a football huddle on TV, he said, “Kiss, hug.” And the first time he saw a football tackle and pile up, he laughed and said, “Whole family fall down.”   Notes to my Firstborn Liz had a holiday party for the families at her daycare, and when we arrived she showed us what you had created that morning on the patio. You had placed the six toddler ...
  • Continue Reading » 0 Comments

• Wearing three hats: mom-psychologist-writer (adventures in the world of autism)

  December 28, 2008

  • I'm writing a memoir about working as a school psychologist with children on the autism spectrum while raising a son with Asperger’s Syndrome. Thought I'd share a few installments. Here's the first one. Beginnings When I was twenty, I stuck a bumper sticker on my bile-colored Datsun Honeybee that read: I’D RATHER BE STIMMING. I loved it for its obtuseness, for the private joke. Stimming is ...
  • Continue Reading » 5 Comments

• what I'm working on now

  July 12, 2008

  • If there’s an award for the most excerpts published from a memoir manuscript, I’m definitely in the running. My memoir, BLOOD STRANGERS, about three generations of adoption and absent fathers in my family, has been excerpted in five journals and three anthologies. One was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. I’ll be reading an excerpt, “Adoption in III Acts,” at Book Passage Bookstore in ...
  • Continue Reading » 0 Comments