autism - what is it?

For everyone who has never known a person with autism, and for everyone who has and does, I'd like you to meet Marcus. Marcus is currently 12 years old and living in southern California. He is non-verbal, which means that he does not speak or use language as we do, uses limited sign language, such as "more," and responds to verbal prompts and limited signs, such as "get up."

I live with Marcus. I am his stepfather. I have been keeping a journal of the opportunities and challenges, the trials, tests, and stress, as well as the joy and celebration that I have experienced since I met Marcus and began assuming responsibility, along with his beautiful mother and three brothers and sisters.

On a weekly basis, or as therapeutically necessary, I'll be posting accounts of living with Marcus, of the resources we are currently in search of, of the goals we have as a family.

This blog is one way that I plan to cope with the challenges and opportunities of life with a child who is severely autistic. I think, along with this blog, I will start by calling Marcus "differently abled." The truth is that while, Marcus has no apparent "gift" as is often associated with autism (a gift for numbers, a gift for music), we don't really know what Marcus is capable of.

That being said, I will not continue to look at Marcus' skills and communications in terms of deficit, but in terms of assets. When you're cleaning up a bed that's been wet for the second time in the same night, or when you're restraining Marcus from hammering a glass window pane with his fist, it can be a challenge to see what his assets are. It's often the case that you think "Why? Why do I have to do this?"

This blog is one way that I can be accountable to a larger community for how I view Marcus, how I care for Marcus, how I endeavor to make meaning out of life with Marcus.