I was speaking with a mother who recently learned that her son has Autism. She was angry to say the least. Doctor, after doctor, after doctor told her that he was fine and not to worry. He will grow out of it. He's a boy, boys talk late. Your cousin didn't talk until he was four and look at him now.......student council president. This same story plays out daily across the globe.

I've learned from personal experience, there is little that you can say that will make much of a difference during the early days. Pain, anger and fear consume every cell in your body. Mostly, it is fear that weighs on us to the point of breakage.

She was kind and gentle. Her voice was faint but the words were clear....."How can I begin to understand his world?"

Broken Laces. My two word response to this life altering situation definitely was not what she expected. I repeated myself because she clearly was in a fog. Broken Laces.

When someone tells me they can't begin to understand what it is like to have Autism it brings me back to the very basic functions in our life. Many of us take for granted every step we take. Simply being able to stand up by ourselves is an extraordinary event if you have ever had that taken from you. So, this brings us back to Broken Laces.

Get over yourself for an hour and find someone that will keep a very, very close eye on your children. Then find someone else, who doesn't know this person, and have that person keep an eye on the first person as they are watching your children. This is called overkill babysitting but when you have a young child with Autism it is almost impossible to find someone that can watch your children. Given the demands that the child can place on a person, having someone else ensure that the other person doesn't just lose it on your kid is simply insurance.

Buy two shoe laces that are longer than you would ever really purchase for your shoes. Go ahead, buy some that are made for a men's size 15 shoe if you can find them. Whether you are a man or woman....buy shoe laces that are enormous.

Go to a field or park where no one else is ......or one where it is not crowded......trust me on this.

Pull out your running shoes and rip out your current laces.

String through the new, gigantic laces and put the shoes on.

Use a pair of scissors to cut off the plastic tips of the laces.

Now, put both feet close together.....about six inches apart.

Take one lace from your left shoe and tie it to a lace on your right shoe. Go ahead and double, triple knot those bad boys.....you'll need all the help you can get so tie them well.

Take the remaining laces from your left and right shoes and tie them together. You should have a little, ugly web of laces between your legs.

Since you are probably still in the parking lot at this point, reach down and pull the shoes off your feet. If the shoes are tight, it might seem impossible to remove them but they will come off...keep trying.

Walk to a grassy area and get your feet back into your shoes.

You should be good and irritated at this point because the shoes never come off or go on easily. If they do, then you are in for a real awakening in a few moments.

Look around you and make sure there are no large objects, glass, debris, or other dangerous objects laying out 50 or 100 yards ahead of you.

On the count of three....you don't have a choice here........ welcome to therapy....you don't get to stop or quit now.

1, 2, 3 go......run as fast as you can without falling for 20, 30, 50, 100 yards. I mean run, don't waddle carefully..this isn't duck school.

Move yourself down the path and get it going. Go hell bent on trying to break the feet-tied-together world record in the 100 yard dash.

As you run, think about this....your child thinks they have all the tools they need to be successful in life.....just like you have running shoes on your feet and laces tied up tight.

Your child thinks that everything is good. This is similar to having your shoes tied, even double knotted. You have your left shoe on the left foot and the right shoe on the right foot. Man, everything is perfect, isn't it?

Your child doesn't understand why everything isn't working well together as they start going down the path of life. Come on, run! What's the problem? You have two perfectly good running shoes on don't you? Your legs are moving forward but you are SLOW so get it going. You have brand new laces in your shoes so what's the problem there? You have been given everything you need to be the fastest human on earth so why aren't you?

Your child is growing and needs a little help. You are running but it isn't working out very well, now is it? Matter of fact, by this time you may be on your duff in the weeds somewhere along the path. If you really gave it your all, I am certain you are not at the 100 yard mark yet.... no matter how fast you feel you are going, you are falling behind everyone else.

Your child sees everyone moving with ease, functioning in the world around them without concern or worry.......but the sounds are loud, the lights are really bright, everyone keeps barking orders at them but the harder they try the more frustrated they get. Where are you, Mr. Slow? Has the sun already set? What do you mean you can't keep going? Oh, you're out of shape? I see, so that is your excuse. Well, everyone else doesn't seem to have a problem running 100 yards so you must have a problem. What was that? Something about your laces? Untie them and get them laced up good and tight so that you can quit complaining and finish this thing. This is a race, it isn't a day at the park.....run, run, run...... how did your laces get all frayed and distorted like that? What were you thinking lacing your shoes together? What do you mean you can't get them undone by yourself? So what you fell down and bumped your head and scraped your knees. I don't care you couldn't take steps greater than twelve inches at a time. Run, run, keep up, that's the best you can do. Come on!!!!

Cry, gasp for breath, cry, gasp for breath, scream........see, you get to take your shoes off now and throw them. You get to stand up, bloody and bruised and walk over to pick up your shoes. You, for the first time, can start to understand what it is like to be different.

So what are you going to do about it now?

I would love to hear from you and what you are doing to make a difference in your child's life or the life of someone you work with. Whether it is a few sentences or a few paragraphs...there are thousands of people around the world that need your words of inspiration and are reading this right now. Share with them the hope that you have.