Cook-KIE Alex would learn to pilot an F-16 in exchange for a chocolate-chip cookie. Autism parenting sites all warn about overusing bribes, but nothing sticks Alex to his barber’s chair or to a seat at a family event like a chocolate chip cook...

{mosgoogle} The Boy Who Cried DiapeeAlex doesn't always drift peacefully off after we bolt him into his bedroom for the night. He's honed many tactics for getting us to open the door. First and favorite seems to be rattling the doorknob...

{mosgoogle} Overnight ChangeThree months ago, a doctor asked me how Alex sleeps. "Great!" I replied, with the enthusiasm common to those about to stride into spinning propeller blades. "Eleven hours a night!" Overnight, Alex has gone fr...

{mosgoogle} Biting FredI've always wanted Alex to eat a Flintstones vitamin. I wanted to tap one out of the bottle, place it in his fingers, watch it disappear into his mouth, and listen to the crunching. I figured he'd like the little ...

{mosgoogle} Table MannersWe're trying to get Alex to eat only at the table. Not in front of the TV, not beside the TV, not on top of the TV. At the table. At the table where family dinners will be eaten and family holidays held. At the ...

{mosgoogle} The AggressorsKids shove kids. Brothers shove brothers. I know this, but ... Monday, May 12th, 7:23 a.m.: Suspects' Father was emptying the dishwasher while suspects watched "Sesame Street" in the living room. Suspects' Moth...

{mosgoogle} Word CountWe've been trying to string three or four words together. Not me and Jill, although it's difficult for us to do that lately, too. I mean Alex. "Pretzul!" "What do we say, Alex?" "Pret-ZUL!" "'Pretzel please, daddy!...

{mosgoogle} PuzzlingAlex has puzzles of a garbage truck, a tow truck, and a dump truck. Each has 49 pieces, each piece a little bigger than a quarter. In the dump truck scene, there's also a guy laying bricks, a red-headed driver, and, ...

{mosgoogle} Dinner HourJill gave me a child-rearing book, Blessings of a Skinned Knee, which, among other tips of real sense, advises that dinner hour is sacred. I looked across the living room. Alex munching chicken nuggets by hand and...

{mosgoogle} Getting Over ItAlex seemed better over the weekend. Last Wednesday and Thursday the symptoms had been nagging but at least familiar: Ned brings a cold into the house on Tuesday, Alex is lethargic and a little feverish by Wed...