Perspective – Things Could Be Worse
In addition to reporting on the dismal state of young adults like my daughter on the autistic spectrum, trying to find jobs and lead independent lives, I’m painfully aware of how much worse things are for a variety of other empty-nest parents. Just look at the...
read moreMother’s Day Surprise
When families get together for Hallmark holidays, it’s NOT always hearts and flowers, right? I’m sure there’s a mom or two out there who reached for some Advil or Tums on their special day in response to an unpredictable relative creating drama during Mother’s...
read moreFamily Matters – Blog 101
Okay, so now that I’m taking that first baby step toward 200 blogs, I keep hearing a silly song from my childhood: “100 bottles of beer on the wall, 100 bottles of beer, if one of those beers should happen to fall, 99 bottles of beer on the wall…” Remember...
read moreIssues in Independent Living – 100 Blogs
If a fortune teller had predicted I'd write a blog called The Never-Empty Nest, with 100 posts over a two year period, I’d have called that person crazy. How could I possibly write about issues related to young adults struggling to leave the family nest almost...
read moreBeyond Autism and a Dead Dog on Broadway
If you haven’t seen the Broadway play “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” hurry over to the Ethel Barrymore Theatre and get tickets. This not-to-be missed show is based on the 2003 award-winning mystery novel by British writer, Mark Haddon. What...
read moreAnti-Semitic Fever and Holocaust Remembrance Day
Back in the 1970s, when I left my parents’nest for Vassar College, I never worried about anti-Semitism. Only a train ride from New York City, I felt safe and accepted at my home away from home. Vassar, in particular, had been welcoming to a diverse...
read morePowers of Persuasion
Wouldn't it be great to have such a compelling personality that you could persuade people to buy your product, adopt your point of view, or follow you to the ends of the earth? I promise I wouldn’t be a psychopath, and I’d really enjoy that kind of power. If...
read moreWorld Autism Awareness Day
What a difference a year can make! Remember when I wrote about April being devoted to “autism awareness” last year? (See “April and Autism,” 4/4/14). I shared my conviction that a single month of “awareness” was absurdly insufficient to resolve the complex...
read moreReinvented Lives
It is never too late to be what you might have been. –George Eliot Isn’t it encouraging to know that even if you’re 50, 60 (or possibly older), you still have time become successful in a new career? According to The New York Times, “Finding...
read moreBirthday Bounty
Birthdays have been coming at breakneck speed these last few years. Time flies—not necessarily because I’m having fun—but because I realize there’s so much less time left for me in the future than the past. (See “Fast Forward Birthdays," 3/8/13). Each year I...
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About Marguerite
Marguerite Elisofon is a New York City writer and the author of My Picture Perfect Family, a memoir about how her family navigated life with a child on the autistic spectrum before the internet and support groups existed. She also blogs about parenting young adults and disability related issues in The Never Empty Nest. Her writing has been featured in a variety of publications, including Time and NY Metro Parents magazine, and her family’s story has been featured by the NY Post, Fox News, The Daily Mail, and on Jenny McCarthy’s Dirty Sexy Funny radio show. A Vassar graduate, Marguerite was born and raised in New York City, where she still lives with her husband, Howard, in their mostly-empty nest. She is available to speak about a wide variety of issues relating to twins, parenting, and autism. 