When I was 18 months my parents noticed a change in my behavior. I went from a bubbly, baby boy to a distant, lonely child with no fear. I stopped talking, slept only two hours per day, lined & stacked everything up by color, and I refused to play with my sister. My mommy spent lots of nights rocking and singing to me. She tried to gaze into my eyes, but autism wouldn’t let me look back. She tried to wrap her arms around me, but autism wouldn’t let me hug back. Autism wouldn’t let me sympathize with the warms tears falling onto my cheek from my mommy’s eyes. My mommy was heartbroken, yet determined to get me the help I so badly needed. After countless visits to doctors all over, my mommy’s suspicions were confirmed. I was diagnosed with autism.

My parents were determined to enroll me into an ABA program. They refinanced our home to afford therapy. The financial strain and stress mommy received from her employer was heavy. But my mom’s tenacity for my improvement was heightened the first time she heard my small voice after I started ABA therapy. In fear of losing her job my mommy applied for FMLA to ensure that I was at every appt. HR denied my mom’s FMLA request because HR “didn’t think autism was a serious health condition.” My mom exhausted her leave to take me to my appts. She was fired (by certified mail) for requesting FMLA to get me therapy. My mommy is like any other working mom who has a child with autism. My mommy is standing up for autism and working moms across the country by taking her employer to court to prove just how serious autism can be. We didn’t choose autism, it chose us.

Tomeka White
Lindale, TX