Category: Autism Awareness Series

“No, my son isn’t autistic,” a young mother said, her eyes filling. “He has virtual autism.” Krishna’s therapist shared that this happens quite frequently nowadays. I had to go and look up what “virtual autism” is

Let me tell you a story about a common misconception: when someone doesn’t respond, they haven’t heard you. Especially when that someone is autistic. “Krishna, blue coloured ball!” CLAP! The ball was bright, shiny blue. It

Part 12: The Future I began this series in response to my son Krishna’s frustrating hospital experience. I am surely not the only autism parent to have gone through something similar, and so I wanted to

Part 11: False Cures, Real Vulnerability “Can’t we do SOMETHING, Doctor?” Trying to find an answer to that question, after Krishna was diagnosed as autistic, we went for a second opinion. The doctor was extremely thorough.

Part 10: The Gut, The Brain, and Everything In Between “It is not autism, it is gut-ism,” my mother said when Krishna was six. At the time, she and I knew nothing about the gut-brain axis.

Part 9: Therapies, Choices, and the Long Road Between Our son Krishna was diagnosed as autistic about six years ago at NIMHANS. What happened next? Shock, devastation, grief, fear. To be honest, as parents, we didn’t

Part 8: Labels, and the Way We See I started writing this series on autism awareness because I needed to share what I’ve learnt till now on my journey with Krishna. I’ve been overwhelmed by parents

Part 7: Behaviour Is Not the Problem My son Krishna loves to clap and play with his fingers. He also hits his hands, feet, and head against hard surfaces – the walls, the floor,  or my

Part 6: The Myth of the Emotionless Autistic Let me tell you a story. A story about perceptions and misconceptions. One day,  we had guests visiting. It’s a rare occurrence because our son,  Krishna, has stranger

Part 5: What is Stimming in Autism?  Krishna has always expressed excitement and happiness in a very particular way—by tensing his entire body and vigorously shaking his head. When he was a baby, people smiled and

Part 4: Emotional Expression in Autism I have been sharing my experiences with autism through my son Krishna’s ongoing story, which is now six years old, post diagnosis. At the time of diagnosis, however, we knew

Part 3: The fallout of SPI in Autism A new year with new beginnings – this is my hope and prayer for my son Krishna and all other children on the autistic spectrum. Of course,  the