An article in today's NYT on parents who've gone back to school so that they can work with autistic children or fill in gaps in services that they've encountered. It's a good article, and it reminds me of two things that I've often thought: 1) that someone really ought to promote the idea that ABA, at least for now, is one big growth industry that pays well--might get bright, motivated people involved; and 2) that it's sort of fascinating how a child's disability ends up reshaping and refining the parent's life--usually, though not always, the mother's.

Most, not all, parents have that moment before or after the child is born, the one that involves some sort of pledge or promise or blood oath to keep the child safe, variously but not exhaustively defined as protection from enemies such as wolves, sharks, human predators, car accidents, faulty home safety systems, SIDS. And then the child grows, and there are other dangers or weaknesses: sometimes we vow to fight the school district, and sometimes we turn the disability into the enemy to be conquered, and sometimes more nebulously it's society we're going to change.

And then some more time passes and the blood oath may become a promise to do this specific thing we know we can do: found a school, write a book, help other parents and children.