![\"Liane](\"http:\/\/www.seonewswire.net\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-o-matic\/cache\/7575af8082_LianeHeadShot-150x150.jpg\")
Our guest blogger this week is Liane Kupferberg Carter<\/a><\/strong>, Writer, Journalist, and Autism Advocate. <\/em><\/p>\n(Originally published by The Chicago Tribune<\/em><\/a>)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Maybe it’s just this time of year making me pensive. Summer is ending. Kids are leaving for college. Social media are crammed with articles and advice on how to weather the seismic family shift: “Get Your Heart and Mind Ready.” “Loosen the Times That Bind.” “How to Navigate What Comes Next.”<\/p>\n My autistic son, Mickey, has finished high school. In our state, a developmentally disabled child “exits” the school system at 21. They call it “exiting” \u2014 not “graduating.” He has “transitioned” \u2014 to a Byzantine, chronically underfunded system of government services for disabled adults. Mickey hasn’t graduated, exactly. Neither have I.<\/p>\n This point was recently driven home when a woman in our neighborhood emailed us an invitation to a barbecue for a club she was starting for “empty nesters.” I get it. When (more…)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Our guest blogger this week is Liane Kupferberg Carter, Writer, Journalist, and Autism Advocate. (Originally published by The Chicago Tribune) Maybe it’s just this time of year making me pensive. Summer is ending. Kids are leaving for college. Social…<\/span><\/p>\n