Making Peace with Autism

Receiving a diagnosis of autism is a major crisis for parents and families, who often feel as if their world has come to an end. In this insightful narrative, a courageous and inspiring mother explains why a diagnosis of autism doesn't have to shatter a family's dreams of happiness. Senator offers the hard-won, in-the-trenches wisdom of someone who's been there and is still there todayand she demonstrates how families can find courage, contentment, and connection in the shadow of autism. In Making Peace with Autism, Susan Senator describes her own journey raising a child with a severe autism spectrum disorder, along with two other typically developing boys. Without offering a miracle treatment or cure, Senator offers valuable strategies for coping successfully with the daily struggles of life with an autistic child. Along the way she models the combination of stamina and courage, openness, and humor that has helped her family to surviveand even to thrive. Topics include: the agony of diagnosis, grieving and acceptance, finding the right school program, helping siblings with their struggles and concerns, having fun together, and keeping the marriage strong.

Susan Senator is a mother of three, a writer, a speaker, and advocate for children and the disabled. Her writing on autism has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, Education Week, Teacher Magazine, and Exceptional Parent Magazine. She has been invited to the White House in connection with her writings about the Special Olympics.