Wednesday is Fish Sticks, Green Lime Jello for Dessert.

Imagine having a beautiful baby boy with big blue eyes and soft blond hair falling across his forehead. He rarely looks at you but more looks through you. You worry he might be deaf because he doesn't seemed to react to any sound. He makes no sounds except for crying long after he should already have a word for Mom and Dad, well after he should be able to point and clap and laugh. He hits fifteen months without so much as a peep.

Imagine thinking this was because of something you were or were not doing.

Reaching Charlie is one mom's experience discovering and coming to terms with her son's Autism. It is every parent's nightmare that their children will have some disadvantage that colors the way they will encounter the world. Janet, the blog's author, captures well the stages of grief she went through to get to the place of acceptance she is now.

Reaching Charlie is loosely structured like a book with chapters taking us through Charlie and family's exodus from "normal" childhood into what is even today, not territory entirely known. There is a lot I could say but I think Janet's own words express it best.

He has just recently become able to call me Mom and his father, Dad, but it is not said in the same manner as other kids would say it. It is a learned response and is said in exactly the same tone as it was taught to him. When he truly needs someone due to an injury or other deep need, he has no word for it. He just moans.

Rachel started talking at nine months. At 14 months, she was more communicative than Charlie was at nearly five.

What is cute for a two year old is embarrassing for a five year old.

The diagnostic criterion has haunted me. I was able to delude myself into thinking that Charlie would grow out of whatever was making him non-verbal.

At this point I was thinking that autism was synonymous with mental retardation. And I knew my child was not mentally retarded, so therefore, how could he be autistic?

She said that his behaviors were classically autistic and that with the spark that he did show of intelligence he might be able to attain independent living. Our jaws hit the floor. Independent living???

It is hard to admit this, but my own misconceptions and fears about autism held Charlie back. At the time that I was looking into alternatives for transition, I had never, ever met another child with autism. The movie RainMan was about the only frame of reference for autism and there were not too many books on autism.



A lot of people look at Charlie now and when he has an outburst they seem to think he's being bratty. I no longer explain about the autism. I just let it go.

Janet wants to help others who are dealing with a diagnosis. She also uses Reaching Charlie as a primer for people who will care for and educate Charlie, as she calls it, Charlie 101. By her own intent for the site, I would say this blog is a success. Were I a parent dealing with a new diagnosis, I would be all over the Internet looking for info on the next step. Reading the personal experiences of someone who's already walked the road would be tremendously informative and comforting.

The design is simple and clean. The work as a whole could use a good once over to correct a few grammar, usage and typing errors. The errors are not glaring, however, since this is set up to resemble a book, it should be clean and free of mistakes. The other thing I would suggest is to actually add some resource info to the sidebar. Janet may have avoided this because there are so many informational blogs and hers is more narrative and personal. Still, I would appreciate links to things that have been helpful or informative to her, much in the same way that if I find a favorite blogger, I like to check out what they read. I also, in spite of not having any specific interest in Autism, want to know how Charlie's doing now. It appears that the story stopped a while back and I want the rest of the story which is a testament to Janet's simple but evocative heart on her sleeve writing style.

The Autism bloggers, and there are many, are a very niche community with a very specific appeal. For the average Joe, this will not likely be your cup of tea.