The Autism Mom’s Survival Guide (for Dads, too!);Creating a Balanced and  Happy Life while Raising a Child with Autism. Finished 1-16-14, rating 4/5, autism, 196 pages, pub. 2010

Given the daily challenges of raising a child with autism, it’s easy for parents to lose themselves and for their overall quality of life to plummet. Susan Senator interweaves the voices of autism parents, researchers, and professionals to offer guidance and encouragement on how to find happiness and fulfillment in the midst of the struggles of raising an autistic child. Topics include: how to handle feelings of despair and hopelessness; finding fun, even during turbulent times; caring for your marriage; and finding a balance between accepting your child as he or she is and seeking new treatments. 

from Goodreads

When a child is diagnosed with autism, parents read as much as they can about the current treatments available to help their child.  And then start the different treatments, adding more as time and money allow.  In my own personal experience we were so busy with this that I didn’t really take the time to breathe and accept the future.  I was trying to save my son from the diagnosis.  Honestly, I still am, but around the year mark acceptance crept in to my daily thoughts too.  This book really did help with that.

The author has a grown son with autism and two younger sons at home and has had 20 years to make peace and come up with some advice that might help other parents.  This is not a book on therapies and it will not lead you to a quick fix, as a matter of fact she really is not a fan of alternative solutions, like biomedical.  What this book does so well is to offer comfort and advice on how your family can have a better home-life.  It’s full of resources (books, websites, blogs) and stories from other parents to help you feel understood and armed with more information.

At first, it was a struggle to get my mind out of the scary, unknown future.  But as therapies, research, and behaviors kept me busy, the future faded and only resurrected itself on the very bad days.  This book, detailing her experience with her son moving out of the house at 18, was something I needed to read.  While her life isn’t what she expected, it is good and fulfilled and happy.

If you have a friend that has a child with autism this would be a nice recommendation or gift (when she’s having one of those bad days). I checked this out of the library.