The idea of writing this book came early on when Joseph was in elementary school. The original idea was to write a children's book to offer parents and teachers a tool to help classmates understand autism.

When we were in the early stages of learning that our son was autistic, I went to a song that made me feel deeply. I knew in my heart that my son was more than the diagnosis. Wonder, by Natalie Merchant is the song that helped me heal, and to know that there was more than a diagnosis to my beautiful son. I still shed tears to this day every time I listen to this magical song. Wonder was and is my anthem for my ASD parenting journey.

When I began the autism journey with my son Joseph, I decided to speak about anything and everything I learned about autism to help my son. I am not sure if it was because I am an educator or if this is just part of my personality, but I was able to see the big picture. Either way, I have continued teaching, speaking, and sharing knowledge that I have acquired over these past 20 plus years.

I have a personal mission to get as many moms to practice self-compassion as possible. Why? To begin, I have my own personal experience of living many years without practicing self-compassion on my autism parenting journey. Not because I didn’t want or choose to, but because I didn’t know it existed.

I believe that mothers are some of the very best problem-solvers in the world, and they get very little credit. Over the years I have witnessed mothers in action and I am amazed at how they advocate for their children on the spectrum. They show up for their child with a fierce loving kindness that I deeply admire.

Why is kindness essential on the Autistic Spectrum Disorder journey? Well, you probably have noticed that this autism parenting journey is no cakewalk. It comes with a lot of daily frustration, fear, guilt, and overwhelm that can cause heavy wear and tear on your mind, body, and soul, and because of that, you need to bring a massive amount of kindness to yourself.