Holidays provide the opportunity for family and friends that you may not see very often the chance to spend time with your child who is on the spectrum. We all know there are new and interesting stories that can come from these interactions. I don't have any amusing or tantalizing gossip or catastrophic family disasters to share from this Christmas. Instead, I have a reminder that all of us need to hear from time to time.

Listen to your heart.

Throughout the year we get caught up in the anxiety of trying to work on our weak areas, improve our strengths, seek out new therapies, find new doctors, press our schools for more support, fight our insurance companies, and the list goes on. A year in the life of a family with special needs is an extreme journey to say the least. I have yet to find the right documentary or film that shares it well. Maybe we will just have to create our own. Not a bad idea for a production and media company full of parents with kids on the spectrum...but I digress. You will have to forgive the family members who didn't spend time on AutismSpot before they visited you or who didn't read up on what to expect before they arrived at your house. We have made it seriously simple for anyone to learn more about Autism and life after the diagnosis. Some of your family simply won't even do the basics. I feel for those of you who experienced that for the first time this year. You should send those loved ones an email with links to AutismSpot videos that will tell them what you want to say about your home life. Let the videos speak for you.

I often find that logic can often get replaced where matters of the heart are concerned. Sometimes the heart (and soul) are speaking to us to do what may be right but not necessarily logical. It may be best to skip a holiday party or two, choose to send a gift but not attend that function, avoid the malls because the sensory input can be to much. Logic would tell you that you have paid a lot of money for therapy, that all the progress reports from therapists, doctors and even school have shown vast improvements and that your child should absolutely be able to "handle it" (whatever "it" is) now. Then that voice from within, that swell in you heart says to you, "Wouldn't it be nice for us to stay here and enjoy each other and the success that we are having as a family? Let's do what is best for us this time." Maybe your entire family unit consists of you and your child. Your spouse may have left this year and now your family unit hasn't disappeared but just changed in size a bit. You know your child and you know to listen to your heart even when it feels broken at times.

This is our second Christmas here at AutismSpot. We have come to know so many of you and these relationships are truly enriching our lives. We're family here and you're included. I find it inspiring to read your stories on MySpot. I also recognize that the functionality of MySpot needs improvement. The team is working to create an improved interface so you can easily search and find all the stories and wisdom shared on the MySpot pages. 2009 will bring a lot of very cool changes to AutismSpot. Since this is a family we should be really honest and direct. You may not be able to influence all your family members .......but you can and do influence us. Continue sending us requests and ideas for what you want to see.

This coming year we are going to release a lot of new features and content that you haven't seen before in the world of special needs or learning differences. We have spent an entire year in development and just when others thought it was safe to try and replicate we are going to change the landscape once again. Our finances could drive us to do things differently, logic could tell us to do things a certain way.....but then there is that heart issue again. In our hearts we know that the time, expense, and effort are all worth it when we hear your stories and you share your feedback. Together, we are all changing lives around the world.

On behalf of the entire AutismSpot team, I want to thank you for being a part of this family and wish you the very best start to a wonderful new year!