How to Survive Autism

A Been-there, Done-that Guide
for Parents

By Barbara Fischkin

As we returned home to Long Island, I wonderedwhat would really happen to Dan. And whatever happened in Dan's future, would we still be standing at the end?

That was14 years ago.

Since then I have published three books one narrative nonfiction, the other two novels and only one of them, Confidential Sources (Delta, 2006), deals with autism in any substantive way. I've taught journalism as an adjunct and as the director of a program I created and ran. I look my age, 52, but a good enough 52 that strangers say, "You must be younger" and friends say, "You are doing fine." There have been gym sessions, bicycling, riding the boardwalk, vitamins, fad diets, lots of fruit and, very recently, Pilates, too.

Since then my husband led a newspaper team that won a Pulitzer Prize in investigative reporting with a medical story that had nothing to do with autism. Eventually, he became an anti-money laundering specialist for one of the world's largest accounting firms. Recently, he started his own private investigation company. As for his looks: He is balding but not bald. One of my friends claims he is better-looking and more charming than 99 percent of men her age. "Don't ever tell him that," I warned her. "He just might believe it."

And since then my husband and I, together, have also raised our younger son, Jack, now 16. Jack is a star hockey player who was on his high school varsity team as a sophomore. He is kind, witty and good looking. As far as I can tell, the girls like him. Last summer, we took him to Barcelona.

We have also renovated partially and not with our own hands a ramshackle beach house with views of the bay.

So I guess this all means that, yes, we are still standing.

And Dan? He's standing, too. And he's more than 6 feet tall.

Want to see more?

• Check out our Article Library.
• From Their Point of View: Getting Inside the Head of a Child with Autism
• One up on Autism: Learn the Signs and Act Early
• Beneath the Surface: Understanding Autism
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