Yemi Ogunfeitimi
Abstract
When my son was diagnosed with Autism, my world fell apart, thought I could not do anything than focus on him, felt like dropping everything to take care of him, had many thoughts only focusing on my son alone, not sure what to do and how to move on, the path to the future looked so dark and I needed light to pass through this path. I was confused with my two cultures, My American culture and my African heritage, not sure of acceptance and support on both sides. In my state of confusion, I developed some strategies on how to cope with my son's Autism, raising my three older kids, run my business and develop myself more through education and training. I learned how to manage my time well, received more education to help my business and my son, focused on my three older kid's education, volunteered to help others. Instead of losing strength, I gained strength, I was determined to make all my children successful, was never tired. Whenever Autism comes to my mind, I would jump with the strength of looking for ways to succeed and how to beat Autism. Today, my son is thirteen, verbal and independent, doing better than expected and my other children are young successful adults, my business is also doing well..