Olivia Donatelli's dream of a "normal" life shattered when her son, Anthony, was diagnosed with autism at age three. And just as she began to realize that happiness and autism could coexist, Anthony died. Now Olivia is alone in a cottage on Nantucket, desperate to understand the meaning of her son's short life, when a chance encounter with another woman facing her own loss brings Anthony alive again for Olivia in a most unexpected way.

"This is a book about a young girl who moves to a new town every couple of years; a misfit teenager who finds solace in a local music scene; an adrift twenty-something who drops out of college to pursue her dream of making cheesecake on a stick a successful business franchise (ah, the ideals of youth). Alone in a new city, she summons her inner strength as she holds the hand of a dying stranger. Davies is a woman who finds humor in difficult pregnancies...

An honest and inspiring memoir of motherhood, love and finding joy through autism, from the creator of Finding Cooper's Voice When Kate Swenson's son Cooper was diagnosed with severe, nonverbal autism, her world stopped. She had always dreamed of having the perfect family life, watching her boy play at baseball games, walking him down the aisle. She hadn't signed up for life as a mother raising a child with a disability. At first, Kate experienced...

The mother of an autistic child who was eventually recognized as a genius recounts her rejection of conventional advice from developmental experts and shares the strategies she utilized for tapping her son's potential.

"Erin Marinelli has her work cut out for her when she arrives at her late grandmother's Wisconsin home to prepare for an estate sale. But sifting through the overwhelming collection of figurines, outdated appliances and dusty books, she finds something that captures her attention: a yellowed envelope of old photographs. In one, taken almost a century ago, a beautiful woman is seated with a young boy who looks uncannily like Erin's five-year-old autistic...

The mother of an autistic child who was eventually recognized as a genius recounts her rejection of conventional advice from developmental experts and shares the strategies she utilized for tapping her son's potential.

Raising an autistic child comes with its own unique set of challenges, not least of which is dealing with the constant scrutiny of your parenting. This collection of stories from all corners of the globe celebrates the love, commitment and heroism of mothers of autistic people. These intimate accounts reveal both the differences in cultural attitudes, and the universality of the autism experience. Mothers from different cultural and socio-economic...

"Young Andrew was autistic and bilingual. He spoke English-and Chicken. He would sit on the front porch deep in conversation with his best friend, an Araucana chicken named Frightful. It was a two-way dialog consisting of secrets told and secrets kept between boy and fowl. His feathery friend became his voice; his only way to communicate in a confusing world. But one day, Andrew confided to Frightful: 'I think my body is trying to kill me.' That single...

"When she was told that her 20-month-old son had autism, Dr. Andrea Libutti was devastated. Therapists said he would never communicate with others, nor would he ever form meaningful relationships. Still, Andrea refused to accept that dim prognosis and instead embarked on a years-long journey of discovery and healing. Using her position as a physician to gain access to a variety of specialists, she explored every promising biomedical and behavioral...

Charlotte Rae's career spans more than seventy years, from the golden age of television to Shakespeare in the Park, the New York Cabaret scene of the late 1940's and 50's to her hit series, The Facts of Life and well beyond. Off stage and screen, Charlotte's life has been one of joy and challenge, raising an autistic son, coming to terms with alcoholism, the heartache of a broken marriage, the revelation of a gay husband and the sudden challenge of...