A squirrelly love story about autism
by Beth
Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, and I’m sending a gift now to thank you all for reading and leaving comments on the Easter Seals and Autism blog.
It’s not chocolates, sorry. Not roses, either. Instead, it’s a story. A love story.
The story is written by Matthew Baldwin, a computer programmer from the Seattle area who does freelance writing on the side. He’s a great writer. Lots of people like him. Every month nearly 10,000 people look at his “defective yeti” blog.
Baldwin keeps the names of his wife and toddler son anonymous in the blog, referring to her as “Queen” and to him as “Squirrelly.” Until the little boy turned three, that is. Now he’s called “Squiggle.” She, of course, remains Queen.
Baldwin has kept this personal blog for years, covering politics and music and movies and most of all, things he just finds odd or humorous.
And then, Squiggle the Squirrelly was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). So now Baldwin blogs about autism, too.
Here’s one example from a recent post:
Raising an autistic child is frequently frustrating and often exhausting, but it also brings its own rewards. In many respects it is like watching a foreign movie: sometimes you feel like you don’t have enough context to understand everything that is happening, but you appreciate that you are seeing a story completely different from the conventional narrative.
Squiggle is different than typical kids, but that’s okay. If he weren’t, he wouldn’t be the son we love so much.
That gives you an idea of how this guy thinks. And writes. The love story I’m sending you takes place the day Squiggle was diagnosed. We all know that day can be a dark one for parents, so you’re going to have to trust me on this one — the story of Squiggle’s diagnosis is sweet, lovely, and… well… a perfect Valentine’s Day gift. Enjoy.
February 13th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
How do you find these people? What a great website and story from Matthew Baldwin- he can teach us all so much.