Jack has autism.   

Every single day for the rest of his life, Jack will struggle to communicate and understand the social world around him.  He will work harder than most to form relationships and interact in a way that’s considered acceptable.

But our family is lucky.  We live in an affluent town with the best services around.  We can run off to Trader Joe's and experiment with expensive gluten-free food products to try and alter his metabolic rhythm.  We can purchase book after book from Amazon.com to research this mysterious social disorder.

We can afford to hire childcare when the demands of keeping Jack away from the stove, inside the house, and out of the street overwhelm us.  For when the constant sound of Phantom of the Opera playing moves from background noise to foreground annoyance and we need a break.  

The money you’re donating goes directly towards families who struggle to meet the ongoing needs of autism with fewer resources.

It’s for parents who sit in apartment complexes, bewildered as their son flaps and stims wordlessly around them.  Mothers and fathers who must replace the vision of a daughter in white with the expensive reality of a daughter living with them for a lifetime.  Families who live in inner-cities without the benefit of outstanding school therapies.

Today Jack’s autism is a little less severe than it was last year, and even less severe then two years ago.  Today he delights in sharing jokes and making people laugh.  He loves to race through the house with his four siblings, and builds sleeping forts with his brothers in the playroom.  We credit his breathtaking leaps in progress to a combination of love, perseverance, and wonderful services.

He is a gift to us, a precious gift that transformed us as parents, as people, as a family.

On behalf of Jack and our family, thank you for your support.

Carrie

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