Korrine (mother of 2 autistic children): The fact that I had an online mothers group that I had met when I was about four months pregnant with Bailey, and so we’d all kept in touch, and one thing that was fantastic support, even though there was nobody necessarily in the same situation as me, was the fact that they were someone that I could talk to. I could get online, you know, when Carl was at work, or things had just gotten completely out of control that day. And I could get online, and I could tell somebody what was going on, and I really think that... sort of, that was a massive help to my sanity.

Tracey (mother of 2 children, including 1 autistic child): I just found that I’ve had to... it sounds bad, but, become a bit more selfish, and realise that, ok, this is the long haul, and I just have to take care of myself and do stuff that um... is good for me. And I like running, so that’s sort of my thing, so when they’re in preschool, you know, mum’s out running.

Korrine: Having a group of girlfriends who all had neurotypical kids was brilliant, we get together for nights out and stuff like that, and it kind of allows you to get completely away from the whole thing of autism, which sometimes you need to do, because it engulfs your whole world.

Laudie (mother of 3 children, including 1 autistic child): From Jonathon’s diagnosis, ah...we were eligible for a case worker, and she was with us pretty much from the time Jonathon was diagnosed. She was a fantastic resource to have, because without her, I wouldn’t have been able to... I wouldn’t have known where to start.

Elena (mother of 3 children, including 2 autistic children): In my support group, um... I meet a lot of mothers, and a lot of them are newer mothers than me, and it’s really hard to tell someone where to start, and what to do. I can honestly say I did a lot more than I needed to do. So I normally say to them, um... you know, not to do too much at once, because often you don’t know what’s working. It’s ok to try things, if you think something might benefit your child it’s ok to try it. But not to pursue it if you don’t feel like you’re getting any benefit.

Laudie: I’ve come to the point now where I look back and I think... I have learnt so much through Jonathon, and I’m ready to help others in their journey through autism. So I joined a program and it’s a volunteer program. And I went to a training session and I learnt so much about talking to families over the phone, who have just had their children diagnosed, and I thought, ‘This is just what I would love to do’ because I didn’t have anyone, really, when Jonathon was diagnosed, and it was a real ordeal at the time. You feel so... lost and alone, so it was just good to be able to pick up that phone and say to someone, I’m here to listen to you.