Great interview with Raun Kaufman, CEO of the Autism Treatment Center of America and the Option Institute.

When Raun was 18 months, his parents received a diagnosis of severe autism with retardation and an IQ below 30. Experts told his parents he would never speak, never read, never communicate and at best, he might be able to learn to dress himself and other simple tasks.

Raun defied all the doctors and now holds a degree in biomedical ethics from Brown University. His story was detailed in a made-for-TV movie and book, "Son-Rise: The Miracle Continues."

This is a truly inspirational story and a highly recommended interview. 

For more information, visit www.autismtreatment.com

Our guest for Episode 2 was Barbara Coppo. Barbara's story is incredibly heartbreaking and yet inspirational as well.  She is the author of a newly published book, The Boy in the Window.

The Boy in the Window is a poignant story told with astounding love and humor.  Barbara takes readers on a journey through her tragic and devastating story as her son's behavior becomes increasingly bizarre and uncontrollable after a routine DPT vaccination goes horribly wrong.

Suffering brain damage, seizures and autism, professionals encouraged institutionalization for her son, and said that his autism would only worsen with time. They warned the likelihood of non-verbal, autistic individuals to improve socially or any other way was discouragingly remote.

To learn more about Barbara's book, please visit her website at www.theboyinthewindowbook.com or you can go straight to the Amazon order page.

We had a very informative interview with Dennis Debbaudt of Autism Risk & Safety Management.  Dennis speaks all over the country to law enforcement and first responder agencies on how to properly engage the autistic community while in the field.  Preparation is key during these field "contacts," and Dennis explains why.

For more information, you can visit Dennis' website at www.autismriskmanagement.com or send him an email at: 
ddpi [at] flash [dot] net

Welcome to the Autism Key Podcast Show.

We're excited about this new addition to www.autismkey.com and look forward to interviewing people from all across the world of autism.  Please check back periodically as we anticipate averaging 2 to 3 interviews per month and already have some exciting ones lined up!

For our first audio post, we're including a song that was posted on one of our autism message boards.  This is a beautiful song entitled "Shine" by Mark Mathis, who is the father of a 5 year-old autistic child and decided to write and compose this song for his son. 

Enjoy.