Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations

Autism Chronicles: Single With An Autistic Child

Kollin Thompson, 6, attends special education classes at Howard Elementary in Niles, Michigan.
Dan Collison for NPR
/
Kollin Thompson, 6, attends special education classes at Howard Elementary in Niles, Michigan.

This is the first in a three-part series from producer Dan Collison.

We meet Amy Thompson, the single parent of four-year-old Kollin, who was recently diagnosed with autism. Amy, who had worked with special needs kids since she was 15, says she wasn't that surprised by the diagnosis. Now a mother, however, she says she feels somewhat overwhelmed.

As an assistant teacher, "I was able to shut it off at three o'clock, three-thirty, and go home and not have to deal with that," she says. "Well, now I have to figure out how to deal with that on a 24-hour basis."

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.