Autism and First Place Chili

We’ve had a chili-cook-off tradition at our church for the past seven years or so. For the past three years my twin sons with autism have won first place! The first year, they used my recipe and I guided them through the process. The second year their Dad’s recipe was used and Dad entered with them. Last night they entered …

Erica’s Edition: Hello to Karla’s Readers!

Today’s Post is the first in what I’m calling “Erica’s Edition.” Erica is my college intern this semester. Take it away, Erica! How scary do you find it writing to someone you’ve never met? It’s a pretty daunting task for me, so I figured–why not start by telling you a little about myself?  That seems like a pretty easy way …

Introducing Writing Intern, Erica Graphman!

I’m thrilled to introduce my new college intern, Erica Graphman, to my readers! You can read Erica’s blog here: The Slanted Shelf.  She will be helping me with my online presence via social media and blogging. Erica grew up in Pittsboro, Indiana, population 3000. (North Manchester’s population is 6000.) Here’s what she had to say about moving to North Manchester …

Autism + blizzard + flu = one tired Mama!

So, I now have two sick autie men (my kids with autism are 19 now), and there’s a blizzard outside. What could be more fun, right? I’m supposed to be working on two overdue manuscripts, but instead I’m feeding chicken soup to the two curled up together watching Downton Abbey. That’s not all bad, I suppose. But books and stories …

The perfect conditions for treating a patient with autism

I have long wanted to write a book for the medical community about how to deal with patients with autism. Our normal experiences with medical personnel as the twins were growing up, were less than admirable. Autism wasn’t known about as much as it is now. And I’m happy to report, after our experiences last Wednesday, that I have come …

Whoa! This book is tingly!

Imagine slipping on a special vest before curling up with a good book. The vest senses your reactions to the protagonist in the story and gives you goosebumps, or startles you. This is a real thing now. Welcome to the future. It is here. A student project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has resulted in a vest they …