This little person has brought so much sunshine to my life, he has had good days and bad days. Though he has PDD-NOS, he has shown me so much to life.. He smiles and it just melts my heart! He is the youngest of four of my kids.. He is loved by many..! Starting to talk more, he is starting to ask so many questions.. He is starting to hug and make more eye contact.. He tells me all the time that he loves me.. He really enjoys playing his games on the computer and on his xbox 360.. He does wonderful at reading, math is his strong subject. He seems to enjoy school.. Tells me what he has done, if he was good or if he didn't do so good. I just see little bit by little bit of him opening up and becoming a wonderful human..! Time does tell..! He is my world..!

My Passion for Magic and Autism started out when I was in high school. I worked at a local magic shop called best Magic. A 26 year old autistic gentleman named Scott came in with his mother every other Saturday looking for gag items that shocked people i.e. shocking lighter, shocking pen etc. I asked the other magicians in the shop at the time if they have ever shown Scott a Magic trick before and they responded with “No he's autistic and we don't know if he will understand it." Ignoring their assumption, I continued to show Scott a Magic and Suddenly something “came to Life" in Scott. Come to find out he did understand that Magic took place and instantly wanted to learn and that's how I started with Magic and Autism. And since then I have dedicated my craft as much as possible to Magic and Autism by creating tricks designed for the Autistic Mind. I’ve recently started teaching Magic to family and friends of the Autism community as a communication aide as well as a social tool to help them connect and share with their loved ones.

"When it comes to Autism don't limit your interaction with these brilliant minded individuals, instead be a piece of the puzzle!" - David Bonfadini

Peace, Love, & Magic,

-The Magic of Bonfadini

Hi, my life change unexpected whenever I found out I was with child, gage wasn't planned, but that doesn't matter because the moment he came into my life I knew he was given to me for the better. After Gage was born, he had issues with his blood sugar levels and feeding issues. He also had an eye condition call Nystagmus. which later we find out he has small optic nerves a long with pituary issues. Which would have explain the low blood sugar as an newborn. He was immediately put into the NICU, and I didn't get to bring my precious baby home till 2 weeks later. Gage was a wonderful baby, hardly ever cried unless he was sick. Which he did suffer through a lot ear infection and around the age of 24 months found out he had asthma as well. very scary experience. I also notice gage wasn't doing the milestones on time either. He was starting to say words and after he turn one he regress and wasn't speaking at all. My motherly instance told me something else is wrong. with numerous testing, we finally were giving a dx of autism spectrum disorder. My son is now four and is attending school and everyday he learning and I can see a big difference. I have hope he will learn to speak one day and if not he will learn to communicate to me in other ways. He loves hugs and kisses. My sweet boy is very loving... and he has save me from the person I used to be. He has shown me what true love is and that it consist of unconditional love. I love you gage and you are my hero. thank you god for giving him to me! <3

I would like to introduce you to a very special girl named Carlee Astrid Barker. She is six years old. She is bright, funny, sweet, beautiful, and full of dreams. One of the things that makes Carlee special is that she is autistic and has photosensitive epilepsy. She experiences several myoclonic seizures everyday. She has a service dog named Sunshine. Carlee loves computers, math patterns, princesses, collecting rocks, adores animals and above all when she grows up she want.s to be a Princess at Disneyland. One day we received a letter from the National American Miss Pageant inviting her to attend an interview to qualify her as a finalist in the NAM Utah Pageant. Carlee took the letter to the computer and typed in the website. She watched every video and looked at every picture then turned to me and said, "I in princess show, mom, I a princess." I was a little nervous but decided to let her interview thinking it would be over before it started because Carlee does not talk to strangers. I wasn't sure she would even talk to anyone because of her delayed language and social anxiety but the young woman interviewing the girls told them that she was Mulan at Disneyland. Carlee was star struck. She got in line and talked to Mulan She taught me a very important lesson about underestimating her because of her disabilities. She did the interview, she rocked it and made it to the finals at the state pageant. Since the interview she has been working very hard to learn to say all of the words in her introduction. She has already picked out her dresses for the interview and formal part of the program. She is working very hard to live her dream to become a princess. I don't know what the outcome of this experience is going to be for her but I do know that she has a chance to shine and be very special for one night because a Pageant looked past her Autism and saw this amazing little girl with a dream.

One of my favorite sayings in the world of Autism is "If you've seen one child with autism, you've seen one child with autism". There are so many thing Autism effects , developmental, neurological,communication and social skills. When my daughter was younger we struggled with her having meltdowns over minor or major changes in daily routine. But ach person who has Autism is so unique. I can only speak for myself on this matter. My daughter Mia at the time of her diagnoses only had some symptoms. When she was 12 months old she had about 5 words. By the time she was 18 months she had no words, she had very poor eye contact and she had stop responding to her own name. I read a article in Parents Magazine about Autism. I remembering thinking to myself this sounds like Mia "What if she has Autism?" "What will I do?" I scheduled an appointment with her pediatrician to voice my concerns only to be dismissed and told I was comparing my child to other children. By age two she still was not talking ,pointing,responding to her name ,toe walking , I knew I had to seek a second option. She was officially diagnosed shortly before her third birthday. However before her diagnoses we immediately began speech therapy ,occupational therapy, listening therapy, and aba. Soon after her third birthday she was accepted into a School that specializes in teaching children with Autism. She remained there for 6 years. Mia is now in a mainstream classroom . She has become quite the artist and she loves singing, dancing,Girl Scouts and theme parks. We had a tough journey,but I wouldn't change a thing. Ultimately, every child has their own success. Some may be more dramatic than others, but every milestone is important. Autism has taught me that ,every little thing is a big deal in our lives. My fantastic little girl is everything that I ever dreamed she would be. She amazes me everyday.

Parker is 12. I like it when he gets frustrated to the point of cursing, and he just says something like "ORANGE!" It becomes so funny, we all laugh so hard, we forget what started the frustration to begin with. He loves and laughs so much that it makes you happy by default. He wakes up laughing. Oh sure, he hates hair cuts, and hair washes, drinking water, sweet tea. He hates not tying shoe laces all the way up, jumpy dogs, vegetables, did I say hair cuts? He loves so much, swimming, swinging, and drawing, play-doh and youtube, baking and putting away the silver wear from the dishwasher. He loves toy story and the toy section at TJ Max and running through the rug display at Lowe's. We're the luckiest family ever. Parker is so stinkin' cute we get away with too much. He can't talk to you yet he's full of charm. He's brave and friendly. He's a roller coaster fanatic, and they do not make him wait in line at theme parks (but he will with no problem!) He's in 6th grade and this week his teacher (the best one ever) sent a pic of him sitting at her desk. He just took over... and she was not upset. She was proud, and shared. I love his world. I love who he gets to be. I love the new sense of community that has evolved with autism awareness, in a "suburb" in South Carolina of all places. It didn't take therapy, it took empathy. And he turned out just fine. We understand the future holds challenges, but we will just give it a good "ORANGE!" and laugh our way back to ok again. :)

My name is Anthony and I am five years old and I have a 4 year old sister named Amanda. She has autism. See when my mom had me and then eight months later found out she was having another baby she had a plan set up for the two of us. She found out she was having a girl so she immediately looked for baby names that started with an A to match my name and she found Amanda and she also was planning on how the two of us would be playmates and would take alot of christmas photoshoots with matching outfits. But when my sister turned one she would always want to play by herself and she would isolate from others. So I kind of liked bothering her and screaming at her just to get her attention. My mom started going to the doctors all the time and now we go to therapy during the week. I think as time goes by I will get used to all this and I love my little sister and ask my mommy why we go to the doctor and therapy and i tell her so they will help Amanda talk? and my mom says yes. My big sister Melanie is mom's helper she babysits us when mommy goes to support meetings and trainings. Our life has changed alot but I would not want to be with another family. Amanda is amazing just the way she is!

Meet Guadalupe. He likes to be called Lupe or Lupito. He's about to turn 11 years old in May. He's Autistic. A few years ago he didn't like taking pictures and now he does, so I now have alot of pictures of him. He loves the movies Cars and Toy Story. He's my brother and I take care of him like if he was my son. He loves participating in the Olympic Games his school organizes against other schools and always gets excited when he wins first place and gets medals for it. Hope you enjoy my brother's little story.

It took seven years until daddy and I finally got the news, we were expecting... We were over the moon happy. When daddy found out you were a boy he couldn't wait to do all the stuff daddy and sons do... We had you November 10, 2009... You were perfect in every way.. You were hitting every milestone on time until about 18 month... You started losing skills like pointing to body parts, talking, and playing with other children... We thought it was because we were having another baby.. So we waited until you were 2 and a half.. We started early intervention... Thats the first time Autism was brought up... I was shocked and couldn't believe it but we went ahead and made an appointment with a specialist.. November 30, 2012 we were told you had Autism Spectrum disorder.. All I wanted to do was cry but I held it in and stayed strong for you and daddy... I came home and decided I wouldn't let it define you and I would be your voice until you could speak for yourself.. Its been 5 months since you were diagnosed and we've learned to handle meltdowns, routines, stares from other people, not being able to get your hair cut without a fight, sometimes not wanting to eat, staying dressed, sensory issues, and not saying I love you.. I wouldn't change you for anything.. You are still perfect in every way and will always be... You are a blessing to me and I will love you forever... I'm ready to face your world with you.... My sweet baby boy...

I am a mother of 5 wonderful children 3 boys 2 girls , Me and my husband are extremely blessed, All of our children have their own individual talents and skills that make them their own persons.Our daughter Hannah is going to be 5 next month she has Autism she is severe and non verbal,but none of that is going to hold her back from doing amazing things in this world she does great at school and home with her routines she loves her brothers and sister and she is a Momma's girl she just started T ball this spring it has been and continuing to be a awesome adventure the point of my story is that no matter what diagnosis we are given for our children doctors dont know everything our kids are going to be and become who god has planned for them to be whatever their destiny is in this world his decision not ours not the physicians.Let them grow and just love them for who they are .