Someone very close to me recently suggested that I start a blog. A bit resistant to the idea, only because I wasn't very familiar with them, I have decided to bite the bullet and give it a try. Truthfully I thought "would anyone really be interested in what I have to say?", maybe not, but that hasn't stopped me before. I'm sure I will not run out of things to talk about, but my main goal here is to give you a glimpse of our life and to raise Autism awareness in anyway I can. I hope this gives us the opportunity to connect with family, friends and those we have yet to meet.

Our son, Logan, (2-1/2 yrs. old) was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder this past June. More recently he was diagnosed with PDD-NOS (pervasive development disorder-not otherwise specified). Truly there are a million things I could try to address when talking about ASD, but I feel in my heart that my passion is to help Logan move freely in this world without restrictions. With that in mind I am moved to help families travel comfortably with their children with special needs. It is hard enough going to the grocery store without being judged or finding yourself in a difficult moment with your child, so you can only imagine what it takes to get on an airplane.

In September went to Lyon, France where my husband, Tony, presented a paper at the Computers in Cardiology conference. We knew before leaving that we would face many challenges, some of them we were prepared for and some we were not. After facing these challenges I had returned home inspired to start a non-profit called "Angels Take Flight", there were so many opportunities for change and to help raise awareness. I would love to talk to anyone that has travelled with a child/adult that has autism and how they have prepared themselves for their flight. If statistics are accurate, 1 out of 166 children will be diagnosed with ASD, that is a lot of people staying at home. It is one of my greatest desires to help put a support system in place that will allow families with children with ASD, to move freely in this world and to experience it through their childrens eyes.

Before leaving for Lyon, I tried to find an Autism society in that area, in hopes of finding a family I could connect with. I was not able to connect with anyone directly, and felt that if I had it would have been a great resource for information. I would have asked things like...What attractions are child friendly? Can you recommend a good park, a place where Logan can run around without restrictions? Would you like to meet us? Is there a resource for organic foods? (our son does have certain diet restrictions, it is not always easy to find things for him in our own grocery store, we did learn to take peanut butter with us when we travel). What is a quiet time to take the metro? There are a ton of questions I would have had for them. A parent resource at our destination would have been a wonderful benefit.

I have so many ideas to share with you and as inspired as I am to continue, I must stop here. I look forward to picking up where I left off. I have a feeling this will bring some wonderful people into our life....we look forward to hearing from you and sharing our ideas. And for those of you that know us, you might feel like you are beginning in the middle of the book, I will take time to back track and talk about the early days of Logan's diagnosis, until then, please send us any questions you may have, we welcome them.
Have a peaceful night.... Denise