Jennifer Rosado
About Jennifer Rosado
Jennifer Rosado originally hails from a parallel universe in which she was first a medical laboratory technologist, then an elementary school teacher. She spent her free time swing dancing, reading, watching sci-fi shows, and carefully planning ahead in a desperate attempt to avoid anxiety-provoking situations. Due to a twist of fate (or perhaps a cosmic conspiracy), Jen now resides in this alternate universe with her husband and son and spends her days in anxiety-provoking situations. Although not qualified to discuss the theoretical quantum physics of parallel realities, she has plenty of personal experience in the realms of autism and anxiety.
My Alternate Universe: Anxiety, Autism, and Adventure in a Parallel Reality
“Somewhere out there, on some other timeline, in some other plane of existence, another version of me is living the life I had planned. I picture her to be a peacefully content, self-assured supermom and a bit of a smug know-it-all—very likely an insufferable pain in the ass. I’ll try not to judge her, though, because bless her heart, she means well and doesn’t know any better.”
Jennifer Rosado approached childbirth the careful way she approached most things in life: with extensive research and thorough planning and preparation. But her expectations of a perfect labor, delivery, and bonding experience with her newborn son immediately collided with reality, and from that point forward her life was never the same. With disarming candor, Rosado tells the story of her son’s challenging childhood years, her own need for control and lifelong battles with anxiety, and the ways that her son’s diagnosis of autism changed her perspective and view of the world.
Rosado beautifully captures the sense of isolation, loss of identity, and yearning for ‘normal,’ while sharing the wisdom she gains from years of experience living a life completely unlike the life she had expected. This engaging memoir is not just about what it’s like to raise a child with autism; it’s about Rosado’s inspiring journey of acceptance, adaptation, and self-discovery in a strange, humbling, enlightening alternate universe.
Buy My Alternate Universe:
Interviews & Articles
Interviews & Articles
New Book: My Alternate Universe by Jennifer Rosado
What People Are Saying
What People Are Saying
This is the book that every parent of a child with autism spectrum disorder will want to read. It will let them know that they are not alone, that worries and crises can lead to solutions, and that the spark of joy that they see so often in their child—for whatever reason—is the key to understanding the possibilities ahead. Jen Rosado writes with honesty, courage, humor, compassion, and a deep understanding of her son that is instructive for each of us. After reading these words once, you will come back to these stories time and again at different points in your child’s journey and be both empowered and comforted.
An important read for parents, students, teachers, and other professionals looking to understand autism outside, or in addition to, the textbook box. Delightful and suitable for even today’s distractible reader: because of its blog nature, every brief chapter can stand alone as its own little story. Rosado sets a wonderful pace and rhythm, with interesting literary movement that starts with humor and dynamic episodes that immediately bring the reader in, then moves into calmer, more pensive narrative that brings out the weightiest considerations—revealing strength, growth, maturity, insight, and ultimately acceptance, not with resignation but with hope. A beautiful and inspiring achievement.
Jennifer Rosado is a wonderful storyteller who uses words to paint a window through which readers can glimpse inside her lived experiences and reflections as a parent of a child with autism. Her alternate universe is a space filled with honesty, hardship, sacrifice, personal growth, inspiration, and love. With her brilliant and clever use of metaphor, simile, symbolism, and imagery, combined with a healthy dose of humor, refreshing insight, and courageous and raw emotion, the reader will be completely immersed in her world and want to read more. Rosado’s writing will make the reader think, smile, laugh, and cry! This is an important book for everyone to read. My Alternate Universe: Anxiety, Autism, and Adventure in a Parallel Reality is filled with wisdom that will help readers deepen their understanding and empathy for individuals with autism and the parents who love them.
