Challenging Longstanding Generalizations About Dads

I’ve been a professional counselor for more than 30 years and, for 17 of those years, I’ve also been a dad. During that time, I’ve become familiar with more than one cliché about dads and our purported attitudes about our kids. If you were to hear an unattributed quote along the lines of “There’s nothing wrong with my kid that […]

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A heartfelt expression of gratitude and a plea for patience

From left: Coastie (Appalachian Trail Thru Hikers go by trail names. We didn’t learn Coastie’s real name until the very end of our hike. He is, incidentally, as fine a human as walks the earth,) my daughter Lucy, and me. Here, we’re up at the top of Mt, Greylock, near the end of our hike.  by Bruce Sabian, M.A., LMHC Approaching […]

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It’s Not Supposed to Happen This Way

Ben KesselFor the past couple of years, I’ve been facilitating a monthly father’s support group for the Asperger Autism Network or AANE. The group is one of the high points of every month for me. Not only does the group put the lie to a fairly common view of dads as clueless troglodytes, at least as it pertains to their […]

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One Year Later, A Message of Gratitude

A year into the pandemic, I’m happy to report that we’re not going away anytime soon. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

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Preventing Social Atrophy

Now that we’re well into our 9th month of the pandemic, I’ve been noticing a growing phenomenon among many of the kids I know. I’ve seen an emerging reluctance among children to reach out to their friends and an even greater reluctance to reach out to make new connections. Particularly as the weather gets colder and COVID numbers keep going […]

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Preparing to Go Back Inside

Since July, Academy MetroWest has been running outdoor, in-person groups at St. Benedict Classical Academy. Having access to their athletic field has enabled us to stay in business and provide the services we’ve always been known for. We are very grateful to the staff at St. Benedict’s for being such welcoming and accommodating hosts. As we get closer to November, we’re […]

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Don’t Starve – or Miss Social Cues – Together

When the quarantine started back in March, I never thought “Oh good. Think of all the opportunities we’re going to have to improve our skill sets!” That never happened and I want to be clear about that. But, now with 4 months of this brave new world under our belts, many of us, by necessity, have found ourselves happy to […]

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COVID-19 and the Termination Blues

I’ve been working with kids for a long time. When I started running group therapy sessions, Ronald Reagan was winding down his second term. I was a 25 year-old graduate student, living with roommates in a crummy apartment. A few weeks ago, I turned 57. I live with my wife and teenage daughter in a house in the suburbs. Almost […]

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The Kids are (Mostly) Alright (I Think)

My career as a fortune-teller is doomed. When the COVID-19 quarantine was just getting started, I figured that kids with neurodevelopmental issues like Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD were going to have an especially difficult time of it. Gone was the routine, structure, and predictability that these kids rely on to guide them through the day. Taking their place would […]

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A Conversation With My Son About Coronavirus

By Stewart Pruslin, M.Ed As we all (I assume all of us) now have kids at home for the next couple of weeks, I wanted to share a couple of conversations I had with my 12 ½ year old son Kevin about recent coronavirus events.  These conversations definitely helped put him at ease but are just my own individual account […]

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