On Day 3 of summer vacation, Charlie woke at 6am chattering and was soon up and about. He’d gone to bed late the night before and, not surprisingly, he fell asleep around 10am, his long form smooshed against the back of the couch. I saw beside him and worked on my book and Charlie must have really needed his sleep, as Jim and me talking and Pandora playing did not wake him. When Charlie woke up, we went swimming and then a lazy summer day got a little more interesting.
We’d been invited to a surprise birthday party and told …read more

It’s been noted that some autistic children can sing before they can talk. My son Charlie was taught to say sounds and then words starting from when he was three and, while he’s always hummed and responded to music, it was a few more years before he started to sing short melodies and bits of tunes. Today, he tends to speak in phrases of a two to five words, often without verbs and other connecting words. He does add these in if we prompt him.
In the past year, we’ve noted that Charlie can sing longer phrases and sentences than …read more

When I say that my son Charlie is “minimally verbal” or “can’t talk too well,” I don’t mean that he just says a few words and then is silent the rest of the day. You can hear Charlie’s voice all the time in our house. Plenty of words are said though what Charlie means by “Jesso doggy Barney tape” is probably not clear to many (if not most) people. Charlie hums and warbles and sings ever-longer snatches and phrases of songs. In the past few months, he often sings the melody of any song he’s heard and, more and more, …read more