“Thank God that I am able to stay home and focus on her and Carson ... Thank God for (my husband’s) job successes and flexibility that has enabled us to do so many things for her.”

But she covets the prayers of friends and family to face the challenges ahead.

“Please pray for strength in our marriage,” she wrote in an e-mail.

“Eighty percent of the parents of autistic children get divorced, and it’s easy to see why.

1. “Extra strain on our finances since insurance will not pay for treatment. They still don’t acknowledge autism as a treatable disease or a physical one depending on which idiot you talk to.

2. “It is so time consuming researching and learning about the disease, the treatments, the legal rights, the diet, the therapies, documenting, making phone calls, cooking GFCF (gluten-free, casein-free) foods, and the list goes on and on.

3. “A detoxing 2-year-old. Need I say more?”

The parents had been concerned about Alexandra’s speech and developmental delays for a while.

“Although the diagnosis is hard to hear, we are very encouraged,” the mom wrote in January. “She is on the very mild end of the spectrum, and we are making progress already. She has been off gluten (wheat proteins) and casein (dairy proteins) for over a month and has been in speech therapy for two months. We are also planning on starting ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) therapy at the Marcus Institute (in Atlanta) and a mommy’s day out this month.”

There’s also hopeful news on the state front as far as insurance is concerned. Autism Speaks has partnered with several groups in Georgia to introduce a bill in the 2009 Georgia General Assembly to require insurance companies to recognize autism as a disease and therefore provide coverage for necessary treatments such as speech and occupational therapy. Senate Bill 161 was placed in the Senate Hopper Feb. 12 and is waiting to be considered while HB 426 had its second reading on Feb. 18.

Those interested in learning more about autism and treatments can go to the Web site http://www.talkaboutcuringautism.org/autism/aboutautism.htm.

Perhaps you have an autistic child and are willing to share some of the challenges (or joys) you have faced. If so, e-mail me at elizabeth.butler@gaflnews.com.

Elizabeth Butler is the Lifestyles editor of The Valdosta Daily Times.