For the last few weeks, I've been working on getting a new site up: Corner Pieces Autism. Last year I wrote a book intended to help parents with newly diagnosed children. I wanted to give them the same basic skills which have made such a difference with my son Nathan's progress. I wanted to offer them a chance to understand some of the emotional maelstrom that a diagnosis of autism can bring.
It can be very isolating to have a child with special needs, especially in the beginning. There isn't a standard treatment plan for autism. Some children respond to special diets, some don't. Some respond to standard behaviour therapy, some don't. Parents are left very much on their own to try and figure out what they should do. And while they're figuring it out, precious time is being lost. The sooner you can begin intervening with an autistic child, the better their prognosis.
I had hopes of getting my book published and providing parents with the help I would have liked to have had. Because I haven't been able to get the publishing world interested, I'm putting selected chapters into the Corner Pieces site. Parents need this information and I'm not going to hold it back from them.
People have asked me why I called the book Corner Pieces. Here's why: the symbol for autism awareness is a puzzle with all different brightly coloured pieces. Learning how to help your child with autism is like learning to put together a puzzle without the picture on the box. And just to make it interesting, sometimes there are pieces from multiple puzzles mixed together.
The first step to solving the puzzle is to find the corner pieces.
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