It tells our story - from experiencing the complex emotions of fear and guilt at hearing the diagnosis, to fighting tooth-and-nail with the school district to get Ben the services he needed. This book started as a way to cope, a reminder to breathe as I raised three boys, including Ben, who was diagnosed with autism at age 2. She asks the tough questions: What should parents prioritize as they ready their children for adulthood? How do we redefine success for our children? How can we sustain a hopeful attitude while navigating one obstacle after another?Īs Ethan makes his way into the world, McGovern also looks into the hardest question of all: How can we ensure an independent future when we're gone? Hard Landings will serve as a renewed beacon of hope for parents who want to ensure the fullest life possible for their child's future.The day I found Ben swinging from the chandelier, I knew two things - being his mom was going to be a wild ride, and if I ever decided to write a book about it, I had my title. McGovern spent a year traveling the country and looking at the options for work and housing-and to her surprise discovered reasons to be optimistic. Here, McGovern expands on her #1 New York Times piece, "Looking into the Future for a Child with Autism," a future that often appears grim, with statistics like an 85 percent unemployment rate for people with ID. The catch is this: These resources, limited as they may be, have trained Ethan in skills for jobs that don't exist and a life he can't have. Once Ethan turns twenty-two, he will fall off the "Disability Cliff." By aging out of the school system, he'll lose access to most social, educational, and vocational resources.
A game-changing exploration of what the future holds for the first generation of mainstreamed neurodiverse kids that is coming of age.Īfter sleepless nights, intensive research, and twenty-one years of raising a child, Ethan, with autism and intellectual disability, Cammie McGovern is approaching a distinct catch-22.
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