the foco dad

a stay-at-home dad muses about raising his two children

recent posts

about

Category: Autism

  • Must See TV: Dan and Madden Orlovsky

    Last year was the first time Dan Orlovsky’s son, Madden, was on ESPN live for World Autism Awareness Day. I remember coming across the clip on Instagram and it immediately stopped my scroll. I watched it multiple times. I wept. I recognized in Dan the pride he has in his son. It was so touching…

  • Give Autism A Chance

    Today marks the beginning of Autism Acceptance Month. Two things really quick. One, that’s every month in this house. And two, I am not great at always making note of acceptance/awareness days and months, especially if we are already living it. My message to you on this day is be kind to those that seem…

  • Today’s Topic is *SQUIRREL

    Catastrophizing is a bad habit I have developed since becoming a father. I am no idiot, I know where it has its origins: London’s nearly 4-month-long NICU stay and all the things I witnessed during that, all the scares and setbacks we have had with her since then, and the ASD and ADHD diagnoses. Not…

  • A Brief History of Birthday Parties

    Successful birthday parties for a child on the spectrum are rare, at least they have been for us so far, having just celebrated London’s 12th. The first parties, the preschool parties, don’t count. Those are the easy ones, where everyone is invited. Parents hang around too. Maybe you have a cooler of juice boxes next…

  • The Glass Sibling

    Being a sibling of a child with special needs is tough. I think about Camden’s voice being stifled and smothered from time to time by London’s voice. Not that she is trying to be rude. She loves a good chat. She loves sharing facts. She loves asking questions. Hang around for an evening and you’ll…

  • London is almost 12

    London enjoys a lot of the same music I do. While driving across town I might listen to the score from Dune 2 or Oppenheimer. We love a big, vibrant, orchestral soundtrack. Since she first heard “Can You Hear the Music” from Ludwig Göransson’s stirring score for Oppenheimer, it has been one of our favorites.…

  • Diagnosis Day

    Inspired by the tales about three different days of diagnoses in Autism Out Loud, I’ve been trying to recollect our own, the day London was diagnosed with Autism. Before the day, actually much earlier in that preschool year of 2017-2018, London’s teacher expressed concern about London’s behavior. London rarely shared information with other kiddos and…

  • Read Autism Out Loud

    I will occasionally make unsolicited recommendations on this site. Here is the first one since I picked this blogging thing back up like it is 2005. The book is Autism Out Loud. It is written by three moms (Kate Swenson, Adrian Wood, and Carrie Cariello) who each have a son on the Autism Spectrum Disorder…