Paul Short is a software engineer from Austin, Texas whose son, James, was diagnosed with autism in 2003. From his first post in 2005, well after the fact, Paul’s honest first post outlines the discovery of James’ condition and the separation between he and his wife. Before long it was just Paul and his son and Paul began the process of learning and living with autism.
Paul’s blog is filled will information, and his attention to detail is astounding. Reports about James’ progress, his daily activities and learning are all thoroughly documented making the blog a goldmine for others in his situation. James is a cute kid and photos give us a glimpse into Paul’s world which must be a hard road indeed. In recent posts I was entertained with some of James’ photos having got hold of his fathers digital camera, some of which were quite good.
I can’t say anything good about the site design really, the black blogspot template casts a dark shadow over a well written blog about overcoming adversity. I think a brighter template would bring a sense of hope to the site, but then software engineers were never known for their design skills.
What I can say however is that Paul’s dedication and love for his son nearly brought tears to my eyes. The blog is just one testament to Paul’s selflessness and enthusiasm for his son. This hard situation is explained clearly and patiently with very few hints of despair, and in doing so will probably bring much comfort to the scores of people with autistic children. Despite the design and the sometimes dryness of the subject matter for an outsider, Paul’s thematic discipline since 2005 is exemplary and I’m adjusting his score for this reason. Well done and good luck Paul. NULL