Hello everyone ! Cheers from Montréal ! As you may have read in the About Me section, I am a proud autism mom. My older son Nicolas was diagnosed as having an autism spectrum disorder when he was 19 months old, with a definitive diagnosis of classic autism at 2 and 1/2.  One of the main reason I decided to start this blog, is to EMPOWER and GIVE HOPE to parents of people with autism. As an autism parent myself who often feIt mentally and physically exhausted, helpless and isolated when my child was growing up, my wish is to build an online community of strong and badass autism advocates/warriors from all over the world who will work together to influence governments and business leaders to find concrete solutions to improve the situation of autistic individuals in their communities. Parents you are NOT ALONE ! Let’s work together towards a better future for our children !!!

The other reason I started this blog, is to spread understanding of the autism condition and encourage compassion, acceptance and ultimately accommodation. By that I mean that I want us to encourage everyone to SEE THE POTENTIAL in all autistic individuals, verbal or non verbal, with self-injurious and aggressive behaviours or not, with anxiety or not, etc. There is a huge talent pool across the autism spectrum and society needs to understands this. Yes, autistic individuals may have all kinds of behaviours BUT this doesn’t mean that they don’t have abilities and strenghts. And it doesn’t mean that they can’t learn and continue to learn into adulthood and thrive as individuals with autism. THIS POTENTIAL IS LOST unless rehabilitation services continue as the child ages and projects and initiatives for the older autistic population (continuing education, training, employment, leisure activities and appropriate housing) are put into place. AUTISM DOES NOT END WHEN THE CHILD GRADUATES FROM HIGH SCHOOL !!!

This blog will have the following components: (1) Our autism journey, including initial diagnosis, early intervention, our journey thru the Québec health and public school systems and an overview of Nicolas’ life as a teenager with autism (2) Autism Facts and Figures (3) Overview of a legal challenge against the government of Québec’s health and education ministries for systemic discrimination against people with autism as well as reviews of other legal challenges that have been brought against the courts elsewhere (3) Examples of adult education, training and employment initiatives  for autistic adults around the world (4) Housing initiatives for the adult population (5) Organizations and individuals that are making a difference in the autism community.

Hoping to bring in some guest bloggers (parents, self-advocates, experts, educators, organizations, etc) to enlighten us with their expertise and their knowledge.

Hope this blog will make you think and join in the movement to fight for a brighter future for autistic people !!!