Mafe Maria: Personal stories by autism parent mentor, Maria Stultz

Stories from

(29 entries)

Friend Eliza »

Over the last month before turning three years old, Joaquin started writing numbers, drawing their outlines, spelling words and writing some, all by himself. His memory is amazing. His focus, passion, and control when drawing and writing is (I believe) extraordinary. All signs of a beautiful mind at work. And, as exciting and reassuring as […]

Meeting Strangers »

Last weekend we enjoyed the company of Katrina Kramlich, a lovely and experienced Son-Rise child facilitator who came to our home to play with Joaquin in his romper room. The experience was absolutely wonderful, especially because the universe conspired to fit everything in such a perfect way, that Eliza (our first volunteer), had a chance […]

All in motion »

In preparation for my coming trip back to Massachusetts to attend an advanced Son-Rise course, last week I had to fill out a long survey reporting all kinds of details about Joaquin’s current state. The survey was exactly the same I took back in May, just a few weeks after having become aware of Joaquin’s […]

Blind but Trusting »

I’ve just received my rental car for the week. After placing my bag in the trunk and contemplating all the little ways how this cheap rental is not as nice as our family car, I pull out the map package I’ve printed earlier charting the route to the Option Institute. The number of steps is […]

Slash »

Bollo’s latest hobby is to type on my computer. He selects a key, presses it, and says out loud the name of the corresponding character. Letters and numbers used to be fun, but he’s now totally into three new characters: guion (-), igual (=), and his favorite ever: slash (/). Check out the pride in […]

Cool it down, Mafe Maria »

The last time I wrote (feels like a year ago), I happily reported that I had finished my kids’ size chart and was starting to create standardized patterns for my “line” of shirts… OH MY GOD!… How I underestimated the effort and scope creep ahead of me… What hit me since then was a wave […]

Shirt in Progress »

It’s that time of life again when the 24mth Naartjie hoodie that looked perfect last week, suddenly wraps Joaquin’s belly like a tight (and short) hug. Also recently, Don Joaquin has decided that there’s nothing more disgusting in life than a cotton button–up shirt. Knits only! — he seems to demand. Is this an indication […]

The Trail of Blood »

Note to self: This is how you deal with the nosebleed of a wild toddler and successfully contain him to minimize the bloody mess around the house.

Dusting the Studio (Part 1) »

With only a couple of slow days after the hectic month I’ve had, my brain is starting to play its typical games: Those where it tries to make me feel guilty for not being busy, for not being immersed on accomplishing something, for not tackling the items on my to–do–when–I’m–not–busy list… Only after TWO miserable […]