Education is the best place to start!

When I began to suspect my son may have Asperger's, I realized that I needed to increase my education on the subject. I started joining support groups that would walk by my side through the entire journey. This, probably, was the best thing for my family. I knew that I would need a lot of allies, since I had a lot of people battling against me.

I found a couple great groups that mean the world to me and how far we have come with Bullfrog and Monkey. The first is the Joshua Center and the second is the Autism Society in the Heartland. We decided to join the Autism Society group and have been enjoying the activities they have been holding. Bullfrog is looking forward to attending summer camp with the Joshua Center and even made a GoFundMe page to raise money for it. He is hoping to raise half of the cost of the camp prior to next spring when payments are due.

I decided to volunteer for the Autism conference this fall, but ended up on the wait list so we paid for me to attend. It was my birthday present from my husband. I could not have gotten a better gift. While I was there, I got to reunite with a friend that I worked with at PetSmart many years ago, but more importantly, I got a lot of helpful information. I learned about how to make our family work as a unit with an autism diagnosis, but also found out a lot more about what autism is, how it differs in boys and girls, and even what options there are if we cannot ready to send Bullfrog out on his own when he's an adult.


The conference is extremely affordable and I found more people to add to my support tribe. Again, when I am battling against the school and other people who do not understand the diagnosis, it is helpful to have a tribe on your side. I came home with a ton of information that I have not had a chance to completely go through, even though it is a month later! The wonderful joys of being a parent who is attending school.

Have you ever attended a conference? What are some things you got out of it? Which conferences are your favorite?