PEOPLE DRIVE
Hello, this is Giaci
1 in 59 children is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). 1 in 37 boys 1 in 151 girls This is Jack
RAISING A CHILD WITH AUTISM
Three Families—One Broad Spectrum: Autism Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion
By Alley L. Biniarz Photographs by Syx Langemann 28
Welcome to Holland When their son Jack was 18 months old and still not speaking, Pam and Ryan began worrying he might be autistic. Pam threw herself into research, and what she found led them to believe an autism diagnosis would be the worst-case scenario. They knew the diagnosis was coming before it did, and they both agree that the lead-up to the news was worse than the diagnosis itself. “It’s difficult at the very beginning, when you don’t have a sense of what’s coming down the road. You start to have questions and concerns of what the future is going to bring,” Ryan says. “I was concerned with whether he was going to be happy. Will he have some quality of life?” But once Jack was diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum, they felt they had some control over the situation. “There is a fallacy in the world that when you have children you’ll know what the future is going to hold for them,” Pam explains, “but even with ‘typical’ children, eventually it doesn’t turn out the way you planned. When you have a child with a disability, this reality is just thrown in your face immediately rather than later on.” There is a poem that is often given to parents after they receive their child’s diagnosis called “Welcome to Holland,” and it describes this fear of an unanticipated
