How This Works

What a beautiful video and what a beautiful child! I watched with tears in my eyes and will pass it on to all I know. Little Claudia reminds me of my daughter, now 7, when she was younger, such beautiful pictures on the beach! My two children do not have autism but any child or any person can be diagnosed with any illness at any time and my heart goes out to you! A child is the greatest gift of all and our greatest blessing! I will watch this video over and over again!
posted by Kami Hey on 1/03/08 1:44: AM

My son has Fragile X and severe autism; he lives in his own world for most of the time. But when his window opens and he looks at you or does something special then it comes home just how much you love them. Normal parents cannot understand the joy we get from seemingly insignificant actions but we know the effort it tkaes from our 'Special' children. My only advice to any parent facing this is look for the positives in everything our children do and keep smiling through the pain :-)
posted by Colin Eckersley on 1/03/08 1:28: AM

What a beautiful tribute and the song is fantastic. I am a Mum with two Autistic children. My eldest son is 20 and has Aspergers Syndrome and my daughter of 14 has mild Autism. They are the most wonderful giving kids in the world. The hardest part of raising these kids is getting society to acknowledge that they are different and that just because they appear normal they are not. People expect them to achieve like the normal Joe Bloggs and it just does not happen. The world can learn so much from them. They are non judgemental and just give and give and give. To Claudia and her family my prayers are with you on this journey. It is a rough road but worth fighting for tooth and nail. Regards Jane, Australia
posted by Jane on 1/02/08 8:53: PM

What an incredible video. Thank you FfF for doing this and Charlotte, as well. Maybe this is a start on how much needs to be done to support the children and families that are in the autism boat. Support - mentally, physically, emotionally, and financially.... Bless all of you struggling with the everyday episodes, constant questioning, and fighting to get your child the education he needs and deserves. We are doing so now, and hope to be a success story. God Bless.
posted by Stacy Becker on 1/02/08 8:50: PM

This is wonderful!!! My son was diagnosed with autism when he was 3. Life really changes after this diagnosis, he lost all of his language and we are working very hard to get it back. Autistic children are some of the hardest working children. This song is a wonderful tribute to our children, also a wake up call for those who don't know anything about or understand autism. Thank you so much for doing this.
posted by Jaime on 1/02/08 7:46: PM

I am a 22 year old man with Asperger's Syndrome and I see it as a true gift. It is not in any way a disadvantage and I feel very lucky. I am very proud of who I am and don't ever want to be anybody who I'm not. I have a lot of strengths and weaknesses that the average doesn't have but the average has a lot of strengths and weaknesses that I don't have. I just see life from a different perspective and there is nothing wrong with that. I like being different and If everybody were the same, life would be so boring. What may important to me may be unimportant to somebody else but what may be important to somebody else may be unimportant to me. Everybody is different and nobody is normal. I love my life and want to share it with others, I thank my family and friends for all the wonderful love and support they've given me all my life. Everybody must remember that nobody's life is perfect in every way, but everybody's life is perfect in some way. Having autism is truly a blessing.
posted by Ira Kriston on 1/02/08 7:45: PM

My 19 year old, bright son has recently been diagnosed with a milder form of autism. If he had the early intervention he needed, I wouldn't be worrying right now that life may be too much for him. We need to stop treating certain populations as if they are disposable.
posted by Sophia on 1/02/08 5:58: PM

So eloquent the video- the exact opposite of our daily lives as parents, relatives, teachers of children with special needs. A song like this really makes you think about every single word. Reminiscing back to the days before we knew, to the day we were diagnosed at Eden (Princeton). 6 years later we are truly blessed and committed to helping other families with Early Intervention Therapy. Hang in there families- someday we will read about it in the history books.....
posted by The Lumberton Casey's on 1/02/08 5:56: PM

excellent work god bless
posted by Jerry Wood on 1/02/08 5:35: PM

Our Prayers to all the familys who live there lives fighting for there kids!! Growing up I watched my Aunt who is Autistic be treated so cruelly be people who thought she was a freak. I remember how people looked at her and it burns me up inside. HATS OFF TO FIVE FOR FIGHTING FOR GETTING INVOLVED!!! GOD BLESS YOU GUYS FOR WHAT YOU ARE DOING!!!! IF MORE MUSICIAN AND ACTORS WOULD GET INVOLVED THEY WOULD MAKE A GREAT DIFFERNCE. YOU RULE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
posted by Kelly Ploenes on 1/02/08 5:23: PM

I too have a beautiful family member and work with children with autism. They are phenominal! So bright and intuitive. They make you laugh and make you cry and not because they hurt you. I pray for a reason for this. I pray for the families of these most perfect children and I will do what is asked to get legislation to make insurance companies pay for therapies and whatever else is needed.
posted by Caroline on 1/02/08 5:16: PM

I will keep you in my prayers, and will pass on others.
posted by Juan Abdalah on 1/02/08 4:48: PM

Our daughter is reciently diagnosted. It has been very hard to get treatments for her. Our insurance refuses to pay for the services and we do not qualify for medicare or medicaid. We are trying very hard to get her into early intervention program at this moment.
posted by Carmen Negron on 1/02/08 4:37: PM

every one should know about this websight. im going to spread it to every one
posted by be kind on 1/02/08 4:20: PM

If the child is not BLATANT - VERY NOTICABLE autistic, too often the children get misdiagnosed as ADD and doped up on medicine not meant for autistic children. Thank God for all those trained to notice the little nuances, because autisim has such a wide range of symptoms from not noticable at all to "Whoa - he's banging his head and wringing his hands at the same time - he must be autistic". And please parents - GET SECOND OPINIONS if you are not happy with a doctor when you tell him something is wrong and they say everything is fine and normal. You are the one who's around them all the time and have a sixth sence when it comes to your children.
posted by JOAN AYLING on 1/02/08 4:04: PM

My daughter was diagnosed at 2 1/2 years old. The doctor was very discouraging so we were devastated. We worked with her and the county provided early intervention. She is now 8 and nobody other than family knows about her diagnosis because she is doing so well. Keep up the fight the results are worth all of your tears and heartbreak.
posted by Sydney on 1/02/08 1:12: PM

So many brave souls are fighting to bring awareness to the public about this awful disability. I admire each and everyone. Our son is now 30 and he was not diagnosed with Autism until he was 30. There is a national conference call on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of every month about Autism that every parent needs to hear. It was our "miracle". It could be yours too. The time is at 7:55PM Central Standard Time. The telephone number is 646-519-5800. The PIN number is 4262#. Email or call me with questions at: 620-232-3134 or barb.john@att.net. There are many answers out there and there is help too. Don't give up the search.
posted by Barb Saker on 1/02/08 1:03: PM

My prayers are with all the children and their families.
posted by Maria on 1/02/08 12:34: PM

I would like to thank FIVE FOR FIGHTING for this wonderful pledging...my youngest grandson (2) was just recently diagnosed with Autism. We are trying to find out as much as possible to help him again thank you and GOD BLESS
posted by Linda on 1/02/08 12:08: PM

Claudia and your family, we share your journey... we have a 7 year old with Autism, Richard, but we pushed until the school districts paid for all costs when Richard turned kindergarten age... before that the county where we lived was responsible for costs... early intervention, not the medical costs... fortunetly our Richard was treated with early intervention... but if medical conditions go hand and hand, YES the insurance company needs to take responsiblity!!! Good luck and know you're not alone... keep up the fight, Autism today has to change on many levels and nothing can stay the same forever.... go to your school district, fight that political hurdle and don't stop until they say YES! If Claudia is under Kindergarten age, your county should pay for early invention costs... every bit! Call your legislators! Congress if needed!
posted by Lydia Nioras on 1/02/08 11:45: AM