The Reason I Breathe

The Reason I Breathe: My Journey with Autism Against All Odds is about my life raising twins, one of whom is on the Autism Spectrum and the navigating, fumbling, fighting and all the lessons learned that came along with it. In this book, you will discover how I had to put my ego and fears aside and trust my gut instincts that something alarming was going on with my son Dwight's development. Taylor, his twin sister, was the sounding alarm for me that my son was not progressing with his language and social skills as she had been. It felt as though Dwight was going silent overnight right before my eyes and distancing himself from the family. Defying the words of my then husband and his family, I set out on a journey to seek answers and to secure resources and support that my son desperately needed. I was mocked and severely criticized from their father for wanting to find out what was happening to our son, despite that I kept going, and it forever changed the dynamic of our family. This led me to building my own community of support, this led me to thinking outside the box by writing to politicians in order to secure the proper school placement and resources he needed, this led me to advocating to help other families in need of the same support but above all this led me to a strength and courage that I never knew I had when I left the twins' father after many years of abuse, humiliation and the destruction of my self-esteem. After taking a leap of faith and enduring some lean years, I was able to create an environment of love, peace and security for my family and I sat back and watched the twins thrive in our new life.