This was an amazing event. Such inspiration from all the speakers, especially the parents who have walked their talk. Great bonus for me was meeting one of my special heroes, Kim Stagliono. Thanks for all you do!

I see "Sibling Support" on the back of an autism brother's shirt, and I am compelled to share a story. I am mom to a daughter to experienced an immediate vaccine reaction 30 minutes after her shots. The encephaletic scream- the wild animalistic screaming from pain - that ensued continued non-stop for many hours that day and off and on for the weeks that followed. She stopped making eye contact and stopped communication for months. But thanks to supportive organizations like NVIC.org, I educated myself on vaccine reactions and stopped further vaccines, and today my daughter is a 12 yr old social butterfly - normal by all outward appearances.

So I took my daughter to a sleepover not too long ago. To an apartment which was a first for us...no sidewalk lined streets and no cul-de-sacs. Not a big deal. Just different climbing 3 floors to ding the doorbell and meet for the first time the strangers who would host my daughter for the night.

I was shocked to be greeted at the door by a very large boy, who was shirtless. In fact he only had on shorts that were too high on his waste, and he appeared to be non-verbal. His mom was quick to escort him back from the door and then he proceeded to get very close to his mom - too close with no words, or sounds. He was taller than his mom and his face was mere centimeters from hers.

I knew in an instant - I had likely come face-to-face with a boy with autism. I could sense that his mom and sister seemed most interested in me leaving quickly so they could shut the door and locking it right away. Not exactly what a parent would want to feel dropping their child off with strangers. So I lingered in the breezeway for what felt like minutes. Unable to leave. Then I went to my car and sat in it, and I was a mix of emotions. On the one hand, I just left my daughter with a strange family - would she be safe. On the other hand here was a mom and most likely an autism sibling who were trying to just be normal. To have a sleepover and what a big deal and undertaking that must be for them.

I decided to let safety concerns for my daughter (and they were very real) take a backseat to supporting her friend who was trying to be normal. At the time of drop off no other girls had arrived.

I wondered if they would...I prayed lots of extra prayers that night for this mom, for her son and for my daughter's friend, and for autism moms and siblings everywhere.