October 23, 2024

A Shared Journey: Autism, Connection, and Lifelong Friendships

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My family attended boo at the zoo with two other families. Couples we’ve known since college, the girls and I were roommates, their husbands and mine were fraternity brothers. Somehow the stars aligned and we were able to get all of our families together.

It was the perfect day.

I can’t believe where life has lead all of us these past seventeen-ish years.

College, engagements, first jobs, marriages, babies, these families we’ve all built. It was incredible to see all of us together in one place today.

We started the afternoon together, Jackson my son with autism, and I branched off to find the train, and we ended the evening back up as our bakers dozen of thirteen.

As Jackson and I waited for the train a mom with a teenage daughter waited with us. She had noise cancelling headphones, body language that reminded me of my own child, and a relationship with her mom that reminded me of our unique journey as well.

They went to load onto the train and she chose the tender, Jackson’s preferred seat. He began to verbally protest. The mom asked her to choose a different seat, and I asked if they could perhaps just ride together.

“I don’t mind to share a seat.”

So her mom and I climbed into the train car behind our two children. I asked how old she was, about their transition plan post school, and what her special interests were. We talked about carousels, trains, and made small talk.

We watched our children as they sat together, each reciting train facts, enjoying their fourth or fifth ride of the day.

I teared up behind my sunglasses.

A glimpse into our future perhaps?

Jackson and a peer riding along on the train while their mom and I chat in the car behind. It was beautiful. I can only hope we have friends to meet at the train station for years to come.

This day.

What a gift the friendship of these people has been, and now we get to watch our children grow up. It isn’t at all lost on me that Jackson found his own friend to share a train ride with today…. Look at all the beauty that can come from friendship even all these years and babies later.

Written by Amanda  DeLuca of Jackson’s Journey, Jackson’s Voice.
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Amanda DeLuca

Amanda DeLuca lives in Ohio with her husband Sal, and is a mom of 2 to Monroe, and Jackson. Her son is on the autism spectrum and is what inspired her to begin her journey through advocacy in the IEP process. Amanda works in educational advocacy and proudly serves family both locally and remotely to empower them to come to the IEP table with confidence while working collaboratively with their team. Amanda is a business owner, proudly serves as board president for The More Than Project, enjoys teaching at her dance studio, and writing for her blog Jackson’s Journey, Jackson’s Voice.

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  1. Maria on October 23, 2024 at 8:51 pm

    Hi Amanda
    I am an Ohio mom, too. De Luca is a familiar name to me living in the Lorain County area.
    My son is 28 and in the past two years our lives have been completely transformed. I don’t know how your son’s autism manifests, but my son is a nonspeaker in the “unreliable speech” category. Basically what he means to say comes out as repetitive phrases and not what he wants to say at all. If you’d like to read a bit about his journey, please look at my blog rediscoveringzach.wordpress.com new posts are at the top.
    Just fyi… Zach was believed to be cognitively disabled and graduated from Murray Ridge in 2017. So if you start at the top, this is after our world broke wide open two years ago, the sun flooded in, and our son emerged.