Posts by Melissa McKay

One of the things I worried about the most early on was that Pierce would be teased for being different. While we have had the occasional episode of Pierce being mistreated, I have been blessed to witness acts of kindness from kids and adults, friends and strangers. Pierce was accepted right away by his peers…

I have two posts to bring you this week to wrap up my series on autism. One is happy while the other is sad. I’ll give you the sad one today, so I can end on a positive note later this week. I’ve shared how autism has affected Pierce and our family as a whole,…

I was a bit of a rebel in my younger days. I wasn’t reckless, but I did have this desire to go against the grain and question authority on occasion. While age has mellowed me, this trait does reappear from time to time. I tend to have a different opinion than most people in the…

Today, Pierce is in the fifth grade, and still in mainstream classrooms for most of the day. An aide helps him keep up with all of the assignments and class changes typical of middle school. His performance in most subjects is on a fifth grade level, with the exception of reading and language. He reads…

Pierce had a bit of a rough start in life. I had preterm labor in my seventh month, so I was put on medication and bed rest for four weeks. Five weeks before my due date, I was told it was safe to stop taking the medication, but within twelve hours, I was in active…

The following information was copied from Autismspeaks.org: Autism is a general term used to describe a group of complex developmental brain disorders known as Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD). Autism affects the way a child perceives the world and makes communication and social interaction difficult. Today, it is estimated that one in every 110 children is…