​When I'm not staring off into space waiting for my next novel idea (pun intended), you can usually find me at a local bookstore buying even more books that I'll never read, in the kitchen burning water (true story) or at the gym watching other people work out.  I hold an MA in Communication Studies though I have no idea why, since I'm not a very big fan of communicating... at all.  Aside from running a website, I am currently working as an ESP at a school for tiny people (somewhere in Massachusetts), working-ish on my first novel (for the past five years), listening to every song ever recorded - by Benson Boone - on an annoying loop (according to everyone in my family), and trying anything and everything I can to convince my two teenaged sons that there is, in fact, a whole entire world outside of video gaming (ask me how that's going).

 

Sigh.

 

I became interested in working with kids (and adults) on the autism spectrum when I, myself, was diagnosed with Aspergers in 2018. The doctor wasn't sure if I was high functioning/low needs or just had aspects of autism but concluded that I was on the spectrum, either way, and as someone who has always struggled to hold down a job or maintain any sort of meaningful friendships, I wasn't about to argue with the diagnosis. 

​

I had already had this website for quite some time (just sitting here collecting dust) when I spoke with a woman who was frustrated over how hard it was for her son - who is also on the spectrum - to make friends. The conversation got me thinking and after a little bit of brainstorming, I decided to pull my old literary website out of retirement (hence the name, trulyureview), and turn it into a social network for kids and young adults on the spectrum. My hope is that it gives each of them the opportunity to socialize in a way and with people that makes sense for them, without having to worry about being rejected or made fun of because they're... "different". 

​

It's hard being the one who is constantly excluded because you don't quite fit in, but it doesn't have to be that way, and if this project can help even one kid feel more included - help them find their people - then it's well worth the effort. 

 

At least, that's what I believe... 

 

 

​