Will’s First Lesson

“Tim, I think Will has autism.”

Six little words.

The day everything changed. November 21, 2005.

Our son, Will, had just turned 13 months old the day before – when all was right with the world.

Less than 30 days before, I’d quit my job. In just under 18 months, I’d built a million dollar company for someone else, and – with the help of some wizards – wanted to see if I could do the same for my family.

We could have – and maybe should have – punted right there and then. I could have begged for my job back … or, as some suggested, gone to work at Best Buy.

Instead – we went forward fiercely – lost at first, but relentless. We were not alone. We had so much help – most from strangers – along the way.

And since then, we’ve built a company of our own, raised a child with special needs and watched him bloom, and also had a daughter who suffers from a terrible affliction known as melodrama. Above all, we survived. We endured.

According to Autism Speaks, eight out of every ten marriages of parents with an autistic child end in divorce. Dang.

Yet, our faith in God and our faith in each other have grown. Our business has grown. Our wealth, health and happiness have all improved – in spite of the fact we’ve never been busier.

How?

Because of a lesson taught to us by Will’s first therapists at Touchpoint Autism Services.

It’s a lesson you simply must understand before we can continue.

The first lesson taught to us by Will’s very first therapists – when we were lost and sad and angry and still certainly very much in shock?

You cannot expect someone else to change his behavior until you’re first willing to change your own.

Indirectly, it was Will’s first lesson for us.

It wouldn’t be his last.

Thanks, buddy.

Today is World Autism Awareness Day. Newly released data by the CDC suggests 1 out of 88 children in America is born on the autism spectrum. If that doesn’t disturb you, how about one out of every 50 boys? That means a boy is only five times more likely to be left-handed than born with some form of autism.

Do I think vaccines cause autism? Do I think the numbers are overstated? Do I think diet’s a factor and homeopathic remedies can help?

I think we wish the world was black and white and answers came easy.

I think it’s important for us to keep asking questions. I also thank God that Will asks the most interesting questions of anyone I know.

My friend Roy asks: “Why is it everyone wants their children to be normal but no one wants them to be average?”

I’ll leave you with that. Wear blue if you want. Just don’t stop asking interesting questions.