Rushing to Fall
Although poets have often extolled the beauty of leaves changing in autumn, I’m in no rush for fall. (Millions of school children agree with me). ABC’s Eyewitness News reports that autumn officially starts on Monday, September 22nd. But doesn’t it seem like fall...
read moreNest Traps
Why are so many students “drifting through college without a clear sense of purpose” and moving back to the family nest without a job after graduation? According to a new book, Aspiring Adults Adrift, colleges themselves are the main culprits. Co-authors and...
read moreLabor Day Lessons
Better to take a short, affordable vacation than slog through the hot summer without any break, right? Well…sort of. Maybe Labor Day weekend wasn’t the best time for a nest escape. Or perhaps Gurney’s Inn wasn’t the best place for Henry and me (though it had...
read moreNest Getaway
Could my husband Henry, our family tour guide and travel agent, plan one more exotic summer vacation for our WHOLE nuclear family? Not this year. (See “Ottoman Odyssey,” 9/6/13 for last August’s adventure). For one thing, it was impossible to predict...
read moreNest Negotiations
This week I decided to post my very first book review on The Never-Empty Nest. What could be more a propos than reviewing Brad Sachs’ Emptying the Nest, about “launching your young adult toward success and self-reliance?” With my young adult twins half in and...
read moreShades of Autism
When I saw the cover story, “After Autism,” in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, I must confess to feeling both vindicated AND envious. From the moment my daughter, Sarah was given the dreaded A-word diagnosis at 12 months old, I always believed in the...
read moreSocial Insecurity Revisited
Social Security is supposed to be a catch-all financial safety net for retirees and Americans unable to work because of physical or mental disabilities, right? Talk about a misnomer! The truth is there is NOTHING “social” about the service (or lack thereof)....
read moreGlobal Numbing
Growing up as a baby boomer, it seemed like the worst thing that ever happened was the Vietnam War. My friends and I worried about all the young men (some of them boyfriends) who might be drafted and die in a war many people believed we shouldn’t even be...
read moreHIPAA Flaws and Follies
Who dreamed up a law that prevents parents from access to medical information about their over 18 year-old kids—unless these famously still-adolescent offspring have signed a HIPAA waiver? I’m betting that in most cases even neurotypical kids want and need...
read moreShrinking Down
Why weren’t psychotherapists included in my lament about all the time and money our family has spent on doctors? (See “Doctored Up,” 6/27/13). The answer is both simple AND astonishing. Thanks to the mind-boggling variety of practitioners we affectionately (and...
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My Book
Consulting
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. 