KQED Radio: Not So Special Needs

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San Francisco Chronicle
January 15, 2006
Link to original article

Do you want me to come in with you while you get your haircut?” “No,” replies my 19-year-old son Matthew. “I want him to think I drove here by myself.”

When I suggest that he remove the junior sheriff sticker from his T-shirt before he goes in, he refuses.

“I want him to think I take care of bad guys.”

“A must-read for all families affected by autism, professionals who care for children and adults on the autism spectrum, and for those who wish to get a better understanding of what it is like to wear the shoes of a mother striving to do the best for her special-needs son.”

-Ricki G. Robinson, M.D., M.P.H.
Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Southern California School of Medicine; Scientific Advisory Board Member, “Autism Speaks.”

“In Laura Shumaker’s thoughtful portrait of her family’s struggle with autism, we explore the journey that anyone touched by disability must navigate. Her writing is elegant. Her lessons are invaluable.”

“What would happen to Matthew if you guys were killed in a plane crash?” asked a nervy acquaintance. The question stunned me. Since my son, Matthew was first diagnosed with autism as a toddler, I’d been asked tough questions about his future. “Will he ever live on his own and hold down a job? Do you think he’ll get married?”

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“Voices of Autism” Anthology Shares Real-Life Accounts of 40 Patients and Caregivers

– LAURA SHUMAKER, LOCAL AUTHOR, PUBLISHES STORY IN ANTHOLOGY–

LOVE LESSONS

It was February 16^th, just two days after the Valentine’s Day storm paralyzed the Northeast. I had just finished my continental breakfast-a rubbery muffin and weak coffee -at a mediocre hotel near the Philadelphia Airport. My flight from California had arrived late the night before, following hours of delays, and I was tired and jittery.

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San Francisco Chronicle
October 21, 2007

Link to original article

“I’m ready now.”I turned to look at my son Matthew, who is twenty-one and autistic. He stood in the doorway of the kitchen looking pleased with himself, wearing grass-stained socks and sandals and a clean striped shirt tucked into shorts cinched up high with a belt. His handsome face was clean, but there were several spots he had missed while shaving that morning. His sandy blonde hair was combed straight forward in a most unflattering Dumb and Dumber sort of way.

Follow this link to purchase a copy.

I am very proud to be a contributor to this follow-up volume of the Wednesday Writers best selling collection of essays. The book will be launched in May, and proceeds will benefit the Carol Ann Read Breast Health Center at Alta Bates Hospital.

Something That Matters is a wonderful collection of heartfelt first-person essays about lives
in transition as moves, both inner and outer, scatter us into second acts.
The anthology showcases midlife women’s true tales about everything from
sex, love, and long-time marriage to divorce and widowhood, from raising and
launching children to redefining work lives and caring for aging parents
–while adventuring and savoring life’s pleasures along the way.

PRAISE FOR WEDNESDAY WRITERS

link to original article July 2007

For KQED Perspectives, follow this link.