Parenting an autistic child can make a successful trip to the dentist feel like winning the lottery.

That's where we start. A dentist visit that turns into a HUGE win. But this first episode also goes much deeper.

Carrie, The Mom, talks about the heartbreak of losing one of her twins during pregnancy, the fear that followed when her surviving baby spent five days in the NICU, and some of the things she noticed long before an autism diagnosis entered the picture.

We also get into what parenting a child with autism actually looks like when you're living it every day: trying different therapies, wondering if you're making the right decisions, figuring out what works for your child, and celebrating progress that other people might not even recognize as progress.

Carrie shares her experience with nonverbal autism, speech therapy, occupational therapy, ABA therapy, and some of the less conventional things their family has tried. Helen, The Aunt, asks the questions, including the very important distinction between autism and what we've decided to call "orneryism."

Because sometimes it's autism. And sometimes your kid is just being a kid.

Autism Rewritten isn't about pretending we have all the answers or telling you how to raise your child. It's about one mom sharing what she's actually tried, what helped, what didn't, what surprised her, and what she wishes other parents knew.

If you're parenting an autistic child, facing a new autism diagnosis, raising a nonverbal child, or just looking for honest conversations about autism and family life, this one's for you.

We'll talk about the hard stuff, celebrate the wins that other people might not understand, share what's worked (and what definitely hasn't), laugh at some of the absurdity along the way, and occasionally break into an '80s song. We can't help ourselves.

Because autism can be serious without every conversation about it having to be.