Margaret marches through her dining room and appears to ignore us. I’m sitting around the table with my parents, Margaret’s caseworker and two staff members. This is her annual assessment meeting and the first time I’ve attended.
With the caseworker leading the charge, we talk, among other things, about Margaret’s life skills, her health, her social [...]

My publisher just let me know that Kindle has featured “How to be a Sister” on its Book of the Month list for February. Please pass it along to anyone you think might be interested in the story of the hilarity and heartbreak of growing up with a sibling with autism. And you can’t beat [...]

I’ve been awake for a while when I hear the bedroom door down the hall slam for at least the fourth time. Before that, thudding feet across the thin carpet, a body, not petite, heaved over the mattress — its ancient springs crying out in complaint. Whispering, a wild peal of laughter and then the [...]

Roopa Farooki’s The Way Things Look to Me is a wonderful novel about three British Asian siblings — Asif, Yasmin and Lila — and the effect that Yasmin’s Asperger’s syndrome has on all of their lives/
First we have Asif Declan Kalil Murphy, whose name carries the mixed heritage of his Irish father and South [...]

I’d like to recommend this documentary by Todd Drezner called “Loving Lampposts: Living Autistic.”
At the beginning of the film, Drezner introduces his son, Sam, who has autism, and also has a strong attachment to several specific lampposts in his neighborhood. He’s a sweet-faced little kid, and the lamppost theme, with echoes of Narnia, set me [...]

The Story of a Beautiful Girl is a love story unlike any before.
Written by best-selling author Rachel Simon, this novel delves into unexplored territory — the bond between Linny and Homan, two residents locked away at the School for the Incurable and Feebleminded in the 1960s.
The book opens with their escape on a cold rainy night. [...]

I’m really pleased to be able to share this audio file of my interview with Rosie O’Donnell on her radio show May 6.
Enjoy!
Eileen Garvin May 6 2011 Interview with Rosie O’Donnell

It’s been a busy few weeks for me and “How to be a Sister.”
In late April, I spoke at the Detroit Metro Parent Living with Autism conference. It was a wonderful event, and clearly geared toward the concerns of adults with ASD, not just children. In addition to my talk, which, of course, centered on [...]

Though I have the hardest working publisher in New York, there is no end of effort I can put in as a first time author.
So I’ve been busy this month sending out emails about my upcoming events in Oregon.
The Paulina Springs Bookstore in Sisters and in Redmond will host me on May 6 and 7, [...]

On Monday, I was scrolling through my Gmail alerts and saw that the Huffington Post had published a post: National Autism Month: 9 Poignant Books.
Since I like to keep up on what is recommended, I clicked through the list, which contains some of my favorites, including Thinking in Pictures and The Curious Incident of the [...]