Category: Blog Posts

I’ve received numerous comments from people anticipating this book. I ’d like to share a few of them with you. Out of respect, I’ve withheld their names to maintain their privacy.

“I was wondering when the book Parenting with a Spouse or Partner with Asperger Syndrome: Out of Mind –Out of Sight was going to become available to purchase? I have read the sample chapter, and I need more. It is brilliant, just like the other book Going Over the Edge? – A sanity saver. I am desperate to get my hands on it as soon as it is available.”

“Thank you so much for your books. I ordered Going Over the Edge? today and am eager to get the book on parenting with an AS spouse, Out of Mind – Out of Sight. My husband is a wonderful man, but after we had children his mood deteriorated rapidly. It has been hard on all of us. Since I realized that the reason is AS, my reality has been altered in a way I have had trouble articulating. Your book did it immediately. It gave words to my life, and I am profoundly grateful to feel understood. I have a relief valve, at least for now.”

“What is your update on release timing for the book Out of Mind – Out of Sight about AS parents? I’m looking forward to reading more. It helps me think through and prioritize my issues as I go through custody battle issues – what will be a big deal, and what won’t be.”

“I just learned of your new book about parenting when your partner is on the autism spectrum. Thank you for writing on this subject. My wife and I are on the spectrum as are our children, and we are rare in our ability to work collaboratively. I train parents in how to more effectively collaborate and raise their children on the spectrum. I’m repeatedly asked if there is any books on the very subject you’ve written on, and yours is the first I’ve heard about. I’ll gladly let my clients know about it. Thanks for writing this book, Out of Mind – Out of Sight.”

Out of Mind – Out of Sight is now available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle edition.

You can download your free chapter of Out of Mind – Out of Sight here to get started reading it today.

I found a new article on CNN,”Stress less: Keys to a calmer existence“, had some good advice on how to simplify your routine, your possessions and how you think about things. Some of the suggestions that were helpful and easy to implement included:

• Eliminate time wasters.
• Don’t say, “yes” to every request.
• Break big tasks into the small steps.
• Do what energizes you, and avoid what depletes you.
• Schedule a small amount of time to routinely de-cluttering every week.
• Keep the treasures and toss the stuff you don’t really love.
• Start by doing what you know how to do and feel satisfaction in doing that.
• When struggling with a problem, go do something you enjoy, then come back to it.
• Don’t strive for perfection.

Just about the time you think you have healed your heart from the grief of shattered dreams, something else pops up and whaps you in the head. It can be a holiday, or a piece of dinnerware, or your Aspie-ism that triggers your grief and takes you by surprise. Those feelings don’t ever really go away. They surface again and again and wear you out.

On Saturday, October 19, 2013, we’ll be meeting in Portland, Oregon so we can discuss, “Healing Your Broken Heart.” At this Meetup we’ll share strategies for healing ourselves. We’ll explore how it’s possible to carry on by growing emotionally and making new spiritual connections, so you can create a new more beautiful and exuberant life. I encourage as many as possible to attend. If you cannot, visit our private Meetup page and join our online community. We’ll be sharing what we learn there.

For more information about Asperger’s and Marriage – Download a free sample chapter of Life with a Partner or Spouse with Asperger Syndrome: Going Over the Edge.

#1. Determine whether you are a solo entrepreneur with a supportive spouse, a dual-entrepreneurial couple, or a copreneurial couple. How will you handle the roles in business and family life as a couple? Who will do what task? Will one of you take the lead in making decisions?

#2. Determine your/your spouse’s entrepreneurial personalities. The above study discovered four types of entrepreneurial personalities. They are:

• The all-rounder is the versatile, universally responsive, and adaptive entrepreneur. He (or she) is his own designer, accountant, salesperson, and frontline manager.
• The routineer represents the cautious entrepreneur who is more interested in providing an income for his or her family than in being innovative and taking risks.
• The organizer is the administrator and executive type of entrepreneur, applying rational, analytical, and organizing strengths with empathy.
• The pioneer is the dynamic, creative entrepreneur who is innovative, takes risks, and has visions for the future.

If you are an adult, chances are you’ve been on at least one weight loss diet in your lifetime. Unfortunately, the first diet is often the beginning of a roller coaster of weight loss and weight gain. Yes, the weight may come off, but the problem is how to keep it off.

There are many unpleasant side effects from dieting off and on most of your adult life, such as:

Creative activities like journaling produce a natural “high”. Recent studies are showing that creative activities like journal writing can improve your immune function, raise your energy levels, build self-confidence and reduce stress. When you are creatively engaged in an activity, your body releases a chemical called adrenocorticotropic. This chemical is a neurotransmitter that fosters communication between the two halves of the brain and produces a natural “high” that makes you unconscious of the time passing.

Journaling uses your whole brain. While you’re engaging your left brain in the analytical elements of writing, your right brain is free to be creative. This removes mental blocks and uses your whole brain to better understand yourself, others, events, and problems.

Journaling strengthens the immune system. According to James Pennebaker, PhD, psychologist and researcher at University of Texas at Austin, journaling 20 minutes a day for four days about your deepest feelings concerning an emotional upheaval strengthens your immune cells called T-lymphocytes. In another study conducted, he and Keith Petrie, PhD. and others at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, noted that journaling reduced HIV-related stress and significantly improved the function of the CD4 lymphocytes.

Journaling relieves some of the symptoms of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. The American Psychological Association reports that Joshua Smyth, Ph.D., of Syracuse University, studied the effect of journaling on the immune system and discovered that writing “helped the subjects to get better and keep from getting worse.” A report in the Journal of the American Medical Association confirms that there are definite health benefits to those who suffer from asthma and rheumatoid arthritis when the subjects of the study wrote in their journals.

Researchers agree that there is much to be learned about why journaling helps. They also agree that success depends on the way people use journaling to not only vent but to interpret and learn how to work through the feelings expressed. If you’d like to learn how to get the most benefit from journaling, especially if you’re coping with a difficult situation, you can schedule a 1-1 private online appointment with me on my Contact page.