My Baby Rides the Shortbus: The Unabashedly Human Experience of Raising Kids with Disabilities »

Yantra Bertelli was one of the founding publishers of RAG Magazine, a moderator for Hipmama.com, and has essays published in Breeder and Essential Hipmama. She lives in Seattle. Jennifer Silverman was an activist with m*a*m*a, a collective of radical mothers, has been published in Hip Mama and Off Our Backs, and has written for a variety of parenting publications. She lives in New York City. Sarah Talbot is an assistant principal at a comprehensive high school in Washington. Her writing has appeared in Best Books for High School Students and Breeder: Stories for the New Generation of Mothers. She lives in Seattle.

The stories in this collection provide parents of special needs kids with a dose of both laughter and reality. Featuring works by so-called alternative parents who have attempted to move away from mainstream thought, this anthology carefully considers the implications of raising children with disabilities. From professional writers to novice storytellers, including original essays by Robert Rummel-Hudson, Ayun Halliday, and Kerry Cohen, this assortment of authentic, shared experiences from parents in the know is a partial antidote to the stories that misrepresent, ridicule, and objectify disabled children and their parents.

Foreword v

Introduction Lisa Carver ix

Chapter 1 The Other Combat Boot Drops 1

Rebirth Emily Zolten 3

A Bus(wo)man's Holiday Kathy Bricetti 7

The Story So Far Andrea McDowell 20

Paging Dr. House Christina Witkowski 28

Evaluating Ezra Kerry Cohen 32

The Head Game (diagnosis) Kim Mahler 41

Popeye Thida Cornes 42

The Letter for Services Aileen Murphy 53

Chapter 2 Enough Acronyms To Make Your Head Spin: Navigating the System & Advocating For Our Kids 57

Exile To Bridlemile or Where the @#$%&! is My Village?! Chloe Eudaly 59

After the IEP Kim Mahler 72

Play Therapy Karen Wang 73

Accidental Unschoolers Heather Newman 79

An Inadvertently Compelling Argument for National Health Care in Five Mutually Incriminating Scenes Ayun Halliday 86

Watching My Son Grow: An Illustrated Timeline from Birth to 'Three Years Old Joe Dimino 101

Authentic Activism Maria June 117

Interpreting the Signs Andrea Winninghoff 129

Chapter 3 Seen, Heard, Respected, and Believed 135

What I Said, and What I Didn't Say Sharis Ingram 137

Jackpot! Amy Saxon Bosworth 144

What Should Have Been… Megan Raines Wingert 152

Building Bridges into Ordinariness Ziva Mann 159

Diagnosis Invisible Stephanie Sleeper 167

A View through the Woods Christy Everett 176

My Friend Christine Marcy Sheiner 186

Scout Robert Rummel-Hudson 192

Chapter 4 How Do We Do It? Respite, Community Support, and Transitions 199

My Mama Drove the Short Bus Sabrina Chapadjiev 201

How I Met Jennyalice Shannon Des Roches Rosa 212

No Use in Crying Jennifer Byde Myers 219

Life Among the Doozies Anonymous 227

Glass Houses Sarah Talbot 234

Small Victories Elizabeth Aquino240

Dragonflies and Inky Blackness: Raising a Child with Asperger's Syndrome Caryn Mir riam-Goldberg 242

Chapter 5 Families: When the Balancing Act Induces Vertigo 253

Our Closet Diana Robinson 255

"Because He's Retarded, Ass!" Amber E. Taylor 260

And We Survive Nina Packebush 267

Thanksgiving Kim Mahler 276

Dual Parentship Status Jennifer Silverman 277

Taking the First Step Yantra Bertelli 285

This is What Love Looks Like Andrea S. Givens 293

Chapter 6 Righteous Resources What Do You Know: A Little Practical Advice After All 299

A User's Guide to Self-Help Literature (Or, Who's the Real Expert Here, Anyway?) Dr. Mitzi Waltz 301

Special Needs Trusts: The Lowdown 307

Glossary of Terms 312

Resources 317

Contributors'Biographies 325

Acknowledgments 333

Index 335