I am the mother of two little boys, now eight and ten years old. My book, Act Early Against Autism: Give Your Child a Fighting Chance from the Start (Penguin-Perigee 2008), traces the arc of my journey—the four worst years of my life—when my younger son, Leo, began to show unexplainable behavior after his first birthday and subsequently was diagnosed with autism, a horrible brain disorder.
Before my son's diagnosis in 2001, the late 1990s were probably the time of my life when I was most secure—emotionally, physically, financially and every other way. While pregnant with Leo I had begun a column about online etiquette for a local paper. When it was picked up for national syndication, I had a very part time, very high profile, very easy work-from-home job.
In 1993, I had launched The Internet Letter, the first publication covering the Internet and for my prescience appeared on television and was interviewed by scores of publications. In the early days of the Internet as a mass phenomenon, I was profiled as a “legend of the Internet,” listed in Email Addresses of the Rich and Famous, and dispatched by the U.S. government to talk about the Internet overseas. United Feature Syndicate syndicated my column, Internet911, nationally.
Today, I feel like giving back is getting back, and that's why I'm not only writing this book but launching The Early Intervention Network to help other families act early against autism. Through this blog you will learn more about me, but most of all I hope to help families recover from the blow of the diagnosis and start immediate early intervention.
