A letter to Jack: How autism changed one family | Carrie Cariello | TEDxAmoskeagMillyardWomen

One night, as her family finished watching “The Wizard of Oz” for the umpteenth time, Carrie Cariello’s son Jack told her that the Cowardly Lion, like he, had autism. Baffled, she asked why he thought that. “Because he’s always afraid,” Jack said, and suddenly, another window opened into her son’s often mysterious world. In this TEDxAmoskeagMillyardWomen talk on May 28, 2015, Cariello shares her hopes, her fears, her frustrations and her awe in a letter to Jack.

A writer, blogger and mom of five, Cariello never dreamed she would one day become a writer. She never imagined that she would lay her life bare for people to read on Facebook or in a blog, and especially not in a book. In time, she learned she could best make sense of her long, frustrating days with her second son, Jack, and his autism if she wrote about them. Soon, writing helped her separate the boy from his diagnosis and discover that she fiercely loves them both.

Cariello has been featured on WordPress’ Freshly Pressed site, The Huffington Post, Parents.com, and Autism Speaks.com. She has been interviewed by Fox News’ Manny Alvarez for a segment on Health Now which was broadcast nationally through Fox’s syndication network. She is the author of “What Color is Monday? How Autism Changed One Family for the Better.” Learn more about Carrie Cariello at http://bit.ly/1HUZfgZ.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx