Welcome to my blog. I am a father of seven wonderful and amazing children, two of who are on the Autistic spectrum. Our fourteen year old is a high-functioning Asperger boy, and our twelve year old son has an NLD.
Raising seven children is not easy by any measure, especially when you add to the mix two such gifted children. And I do mean that honestly. Our boys are brilliant, wacky, highly verbal and, surprisingly, deeply emotional. Every day with them opens our eyes to the majesty of the human soul and spirit and our family is blessed to have been given the opportunity to guide and direct them to independence (we think) and adulthood (Oh, boy!)
The road this path takes is through much uncharted territory. Every day a new book is published on the topic of AS and NLD and, after reading many of them one thing is absolutely clear: Each child is a book into him/herself. No two are ever the same and will require different approaches to help navigate the journey to adulthood and beyond.
I am just a simple dad who loves his kids dearly. I think my wife and I have learned a thing or two over these last fourteen years, and it is our honor to share our lessons, observations, frustrations, high and low moments to add to the growing body of knowledge about these conditions. We welcome you to participate and share as well.
May G-d bless our efforts to raise all our children to be outstanding citizens of the world.
LJL

2 comments
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July 29, 2009 at 1:22 pm
M. Knobel
LJL,
I had no idea you were in this situation with two of your children. I don’t have the time to look too deeply at what has been written so far, however, I would like to contribute insights in the future if possible.
MK
July 29, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Lee Lowenstein
Thanks for posting Moshe. This was not something we really understood when we were living in Miami Beach. We had a diagnosis but so little was known then, that it was just something we endured in silence.
Take a look at the Raising Children section at any bookstore and you will see books on the topic of Autism are exploding. We’ve become de-facto experts in the field without really trying. I have gotten feedback from friends and professionals who are following the blog that they find the insights (and humor) to be helpful. It sure has been cathartic for me
I would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions.
Take care and regards to the family.
LJ