remember the smell of the doctor’s office, the sounds of a baby screaming

in the exam room next to us and the sick feeling in my stomach as the

doctor handed us a simple piece of paper that had been hurriedly copied

by one of the nurse staff and was off center and blurry, but the word at the

top was impossible to mistake as it was the diagnosis that we had feared . . .

AUTISM. My eyes filled with tears as the doctor walked toward the door and

it clicked shut with an enormous finality. I clutched the paper as if it were

my only possession on this planet and began to read the sterile and tormenting

prognosis for my little girl. The words stung my soul like poisonous darts

bringing despair and waves of emotion that is difficult to put into words. Was

this it? Was this piece of paper the best our doctor could do for us? I knew

at that moment that at some point in my life time that I would do something

to change this outcome. At the point of diagnosis or recognition of a delay,

families should be given something tangible, something besides a cheap

piece paper filled with worst case scenarios and grim statistics, something

useful, something practical, and maybe a little inspirational…that something

is what you are holding in your hands right now…Connections Issue #2.