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9656 Things No One Ever Told Me After My Kid Was Diagnosed

Friday, July 14, 2017: 3:00 PM-4:15 PM

Room: 102A (Wisconsin Center )

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This presentation shows how to be a great autism parent without losing all of your former self. Presentation will tackle important things that fall through the cracks. Topic points include "You're Allowed To Be Mad", "Autism Includes Some Perks", "You're Going to Get Advice From Everyone", "Your Marriage Can Survive"

I'm a 46-year-old dad with a 13-year-old son with severe/classic non-verbal autism and epilepsy. In April 2011 I created a Facebook page and blog called Autism Daddy (www.theautismdaddy.com and www.fb.com/autismdaddy) when I couldn't find a true, realistic depiction of what being an autism parent was all about. Too many other parenting blogs I found were all "sunshine and rainbows" and "God wouldn't give you more than you could handle". So I started writing daily and posting pictures daily of our crazy and humorous reality.

And people have really responded to it…

In the 5 years since I launched it’s grown to over 145,000 followers on Facebook. My blog regularly gets over 1000 unique visitors per day and people around the world are following my story & my son’s story and are totally invested in what goes on in my home.

I get personal email messages every day from people thanking me for showing all aspects of our lives raising our special son and they very often say that reading my blog makes them feel less alone.

Along the way, I’ve written a significant amount of content about what it’s like being the parent of an autistic child. I’ve shared lots of the hardships, along with lots of tips and tricks of things I’ve learned along the way...

And two years ago I began doing public speaking with a presentation called "Things No One Ever Told Me After My Kid Was Diagnosed With Autism" because I learned that the biggest purpose of our story has been to educate people on how to be an autism parent without losing all of your former self in the process.

Topic points of my presentation include

-- You're Allowed To Be Mad That Your Child Has Autism

-- Your Marriage Can Survive

-- You're Going To Get Advice From Everyone

-- There Are A Few Perks

-- You're Allowed To Be Selfish

-- The Internet Can Be Your Worst Enemy

Learning Objectives:

Parents explore ways to keep their marriage strong while raising a child with special needs.
Parents review how important taking care of yourself is.
Parents discuss the importance of a sense of humor.

Track: Life Stage 1 - Birth to 5

Content Area: Social Connections

Presenter:

Frank Campagna
AUTISM DADDY BLOG

Frank Campagna is father to a 13 year old son with autism. In 2011 he began writing about his experiences and has become a social media sensation with his "Autism Daddy" blog and Facebook page by giving people a humorous and realistic look at the world inside an autism household.

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