Charles' and Wally's Autism Adventures

Wally and his little bro Leo chillin' on the couch. "Wally!  Can you give Aunt Heather a kiss?"  He thinks for a second, processing the request.  Puckers up.  Smooch.  So awesome.  He spontaneously started kissing on request a few weeks back.  The best is when we've been having fun playing and he turns around, thinking about what to do, and puckers up and smooches me on my scruffy cheek.  I melt.  It's his first way of saying I love you.  Words fail to describe how it makes me feel. Earlier that day while changing a diaper.  "Whap!"  Wally's foot smacks the whole right side of my face.  "NO KICKING!" I yell as I grab his ankle, trying to prevent further violence and trying to control my anger and surprise at being kicked in the head by a 3.5 year old.  "Wally, you may not kick me.  Or mommy..."  He wiggles, trying to escape my grasp.  I hold on for a few more seconds.  He looks away and ca...

My name is Charles and I have a 3 and a half years old son named Wally who was diagnosed with ASD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, right after my wife and I moved from New York to Massachusetts in June of 2016 to begin Masters of Divinity degrees (yes both of us), at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.  My idea for this blog is primarily to reflect on the process of being the father of a child with Autism, sharing insights and stories of the journey as well as any helpful resources I discover along the way. You may be interested in this blog just because you love Wally (he has lots of fans) or have a kid with ASD or are a parent who wants to hear a dad's process of parenting, or if you are part of the Autism community in some other way.  Regardless of why you are here, welcome to our Autism Adventure. When I think about Wally a flood of emotions envelopes me.  I know that learning to love him as he is and as he grows and develops each day will be a huge part of my dev...