Help for a Recent Autism Diagnosis

We live in central Vermont, in an area that's easily an hour away in any direction from the nearest Interstate highway. Our small state is only pierced by two of these international thruways and, unlike many of our neighbors, rest stops are few and far between. As a matter of fact, on these limited access highways, there are only a couple of manned information points and to miss one can literally mean you've missed them all.

There are information booths in most of our picturesque our towns, and many businesses support racks of free giveaway guides. But sometimes you have to travel miles off the beaten path to find the kiosks or get good directions. And sadly, Vermont probably coined the phrase "You cain't get they'uh from hea'yuh". More sadly: while you're looking to find where you're going, you can miss a lot of the beauty that's right beside you.

What does that have to do with anything? Well, it's true that this blog is about our autism booklet Same Child, Different Day. But I also want you to know that we are available to you as a resource. For those just hearing that your little one has autism can be utterly overwhelming. We want to be your Welcome Center rest stop on this mapless, sign-free highway.

You have hundreds of questions, and hundreds of places to look for answers. There's such an overload, you may even find that you need to pull over to the side of the road and cry. But if you pull in right now and ask for directions, we can give you the insight of a family living the difference. Slip off the information superhighway and send us an email (jongilbert@rocketmail.com); we'll answer your questions --- and if you'd prefer to talk as opposed to electronic words, we can make arrangements for that.

We don't want you to feel that this is the end of the beginning, or the beginning of the end. You are at the beginning of the beginning: the Welcome Center. The autism journey is a crooked road rife with hair-pin curves, dead ends, forks, cliffs, hills and valleys. Hardest of all, most of us don't even know exacly where we're going.

Let us know if you'd like to carpool.

~Jon