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A friend just sent me a link to a story about polar bears cavorting with huskies in the wild (thank you), and, more relevantly, in my subsequent meanderings on the website of Speaking of Faith, a programme in the american public radio stable, I stumbled across, and am currently listening to its latest offering: Being Autistic, Being Human.The programme looks at the experience of autism through the eyes of two parents of an autistic boy. I have already decided I will like it, having read a book, a few years ago, written by the father, Paul Collins (Not Even Wrong: A Father’s Journey into the Lost History of Autism). I was impressed at the time by the warmth and curiosity he showed towards his son Morgan.I have become increasingly selective in my reading and listening about autism these days. I know most of it serves less as a practical guide to supporting my son, and more as a means of finding ways for me personally to engage the subject in the most positive, least pathological way i can. I find myself endlessly ruminating on how autism fits into the larger scheme of things. I even have some theories. Maybe I have the luxury of engaging with the subject on a predominately philosophical level because my son appears to require less intervention than some children on the autism spectrum and perhaps also because he is too young for me to witness much of the less palatable features of his being set apart from the herds of normality.Having said that, he is about to experience his first taste of receiving educational support with his newly alloted 2.5 hours per week of teacher aide time. That’s half an hour per day. Almost too silly to bother with really. Except of course he could definitely use more assistance at this point, and like many who are considered ‘higher functioning’ he will miss out on getting this and instead be left alone to battle for himself.This is where reading stories by and about autistics who have found their way without huge amounts of outside intervention has been helpful to me, because whether I like it or not, this is the road we are travelling. Optimism can be a useful defence at times.Incidentally there is another recent program of interest on another internet radio programme, The Infinite Mind, on Aspergers syndrome. I haven’t heard this one yet as i have been too busy celebrating birthdays and hearing at length about my son’s prized bionicles. You can find it here.