WELCOME TO DADS AND AUTISM
LEARN HOW TO STAY IN THE GAME |
About the Author
I’m Emerson Donnell. Born and raised in New Jersey, I waited until my 40’s to have a child. Little did I know I was a perfect match, a statistical poster child of the typical parent who sires an autistic child, (an older male living in New Jersey, the state with the highest incidence of autism.) And little did I know after the birth of my son, "Little Em", that my wife Jen and I were being railroaded right into the next statistic that over 80% of marriages that sire an autistic child end in divorce. This horrifying divorce rate could be blamed in a myriad of things, but for me and I think many other dads out there it can be summed up in one word: Frustration. Coming home and not being able to bond with my child in any sense of the word lead to the disintegration of all other aspects of our household. As I educated myself, I read again and again how the odds were stacked against me and my family coming out of this whole. Furthermore I found little out there to help dads in dealing with this crisis in a systematic productive manner.
As a father of an autistic child I have the eye to eye empathy and understanding of what you are enduring. I have had the same angst in my heart, the same pain and the same tears. This allowed me to look deep into the behaviors that are important to any parent and develop a program of tactics that I believe can help bring the humanity back your child and develop affectionate behaviors.
Little Emerson is now nearly four years old. And though we are still battling autism and apraxia I can say with all conviction that the tactics we employed have brought out his affectionate, fun loving human side. This from a boy who avoided contact so vehemently that when we got too close his eyes would roll white as he tried to look away. Now his effortless hugs and kisses fill us with resolve to carry on with all hope that together we conquer autism.
Can't forget about our Keeshond, Mugsey. He's an integral part of our family and Little Em's therapy.
