A few days ago, I emerged from my office after squandering a few hours on the Internet and took a quick attendance of family members. I think that if you're a parent, you never stop counting bodies.

Steve was sitting in the comfy chair by the window reading a book about Napoleon. I found Jonah in his room drawing pictures of large eyed Japanese people. I shouted for Ian. No answer. I checked his bedroom, the bathrooms, the TV room. I ran around the outside of the house. No Ian. 

We've lost Ian before, and it wasn't good. Other parents may count their children, but autistic parents do it with a different level of urgency. So, I panicked. I yelled at Steve. "IAN'S GONE." Steve threw on his shoes and ran out of the house. 

We were very close to a busy road at our old house, so the boys had a very small zone in front of the house where they were allowed to ride their bikes. They kept to that zone like there was an invisible electric fence keeping them in. 

Here, the boys may have too much room to roam. We live right next to a large circle of houses. The only people who drive on that road are the homeowners and their landscapers. We decided that it was okay for Ian to ride his bike around the circle without a grown-up watching him. There is also a repurposed elementary school down the block from us with a large soccer field and a municipal tennis court. We let Ian go down to the school one time to meet up with Jonah. Now, Ian thinks that he can go to the school by himself. 

Steve found Ian at the soccer field picking dandelions for me. He came up to the house with a bouquet and said "Here you go!" with such a big smile on his face. We couldn't be too mad that he hadn't told us where he was going.

He's going to be ten next week. Other 10-year olds can ride their bikes on their own far and wide, but we can't let Ian do it. He such a perfect prey for perverts. With all that ABA therapy, he's been trained to do whatever a grown up says. I still worry like crazy when he goes to the men's room at malls and other public places. When he's in a public restroom, I stand outside the door tapping my feet and checking out the faces of all the guys who go in. Are you a pervert? Are you a pervert? OK, they probably think that I'm a creep, but whatever. 

In the past few weeks, I've read amazing articles about autism  I should probably create new posts for all the topics, but I'm in a rush today. The kids are off from school, so we need to keep them occupied. We're thinking about visiting the Empire State Building this morning. In the afternoon, Jonah has to get his second round of braces. Another $2,000. Ugh. So, this is going to be one mongo-autism-link post. 

 USA Today talks about the research on autistic brains. They look a lot like regular brains, but the wiring between the sections of the brains is different. The good news is that brains can get rewired. I know that. One quibble though. USA Today contrasts autistic kids with "healthy" kids. Autism is not the flu.

 Amy Harmon writes about Autism Wars.  

Two new studies have come out about the causes of autism. One study points to obese parents. I haven't had a chance to read the actual study yet, so I shouldn't comment. But I will. Parental obesity could be related to low muscle tone and poor physical coordination often goes along with autism; the parents may be slightly autistic themselves. So obesity didn't cause the autism. It is a symptom of a genetic trait. (And I weighed 110 pounds at 5'5" when I got pregnant with Ian.)

Another study looked at the very small sample of autistic kids who have no autistic-type genes in the extended family. Sometimes men create genetic mutations when they get older. But there are hundreds of different genetic mutations that can cause autism . This finding confirms what we pretty much know – autism isn't really one thing. (Am really, really rushing. No time for links.)