How do you ask...

...for a bathroom in China, if you don't speak Chinese? Is there a hand gesture or pantomime considered polite? Does saying it over and over in English get you very far? How long will you last until you run for the nearest bushes in desperation? What if you didn't realize that bushes were a necessary modesty?

http://www.autistics.org/library/dontmourn.html

This may be the most beautiful, inspiring, poignant piece of literature I have ever read regarding autism. How perfect that it was written by someone who has been classified autistic. This has been the battle cry I've been searching frantically for the words to since I realized Ethan was different. It sums up perfectly how I feel, and yet is still laser-like. Enjoy.

New pictures!

New pictures on Flickr! Clicky!
(For those unaccustomed to Flickr, this link will take you to my main photostream. I recommend selecting a set from the three listed on the right hand side of the page, like Ti'anna's 6th Birthday. When you get there, if you don't want to click on each picture successively, you can select "View as Slideshow" from the upper right-hand corner, which pops open a handy little dialog box. Click on any picture while they are playing for a closer view.) Enjoy!

Of special note: Ethan as a blur in a group picture (ah, art imitates life). Mom absent from all shots (life imitates art). Ti'anna holding a camera (she imitates me). Inverted glass pie plate holding a cake (pan imitates cake stand). That is all.