By John Dear
Senior Media Producer, CNN Media Operations

It's been a year since my family had the opportunity to share a day in our lives with CNN viewers, on the first World Autism Awareness Day.  Jonas, the second oldest of our three boys, has autism, and we wanted to show the struggles that families go through when living with the disorder on a daily basis.  We were concerned last year that our youngest son, who was 13 months old at the time, might be on the autism spectrum as well. Our worst fears were confirmed five months later when Rasmus got a formal diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.

Jonas, 3 (left), Magnus, 6, and Rasmus, 2

For one year, we drove Jonas more than four hours a day, five days a week to get applied behavior analysis therapy, which helped him tremendously. This was no longer an option. Last summer, we rented out our house and moved closer to the school that Jonas and now Rasmus attend at Emory University in Atlanta. Moving out of our home was a tough decision, but the advantages of being closer to their school and my work far outweighed any other factors.

We are bombarding our kids with ABA, speech and occupational therapy. We have a lot on our plate and it's a constant struggle to keep up. On top of all that, our oldest son, Magnus, needs just as much attention, which we are mindful of. He has turned out to be his younger brothers’ best teacher, because of their eagerness to impress their big brother.

We are pleased with the results from our early intervention, yet we still have a way to go to get our children mainstreamed. Jonas, who is almost 4 now, is eager to engage and is extremely talkative, although sometimes hard to understand. Rasmus just turned 2 and has benefited tremendously from ABA and speech therapy.

This is without a doubt the hardest thing that my wife and I have ever had to deal with. Not only is the financial reality staggering, the toll that autism has taken on our marriage has been extremely challenging. We've got one nostril above water, but we know in our hearts that we are doing everything we can to give our kids the best chance to live the life they choose.

Has autism touched you somehow? How have you managed the challenges that it can bring? We'd like to know.

Editor's Note: Medical news is a popular but sensitive subject rooted in science. We receive many comments on this blog each day; not all are posted. Our hope is that much will be learned from the sharing of useful information and personal experiences based on the medical and health topics of the blog. We encourage you to focus your comments on those medical and health topics and we appreciate your input. Thank you for your participation.

By John Dear

CNN Media Operations, Sr. Media Producer

I remember distinctly it was December 2006. My entire family became sick at the same time. Our two boys, my pregnant wife and I had projectile vomiting. It was unusual not because we were miserable simultaneously, but because Jonas (18 months at that time) never seemed like himself after everyone else got over it. He no longer wanted to cuddle with us and would not respond to us when called. The eye contact disappeared, and he started tapping with his fingertips on anything he could find. We bought a set of drums and a keyboard thinking he'd be this great musician with his new obsession. Up until that point he had been developing normally, but now the few words he knew were no longer there and he was completely non-verbal.

We approached our pediatrician with these concerns several times over the next six months while bringing Jonas in for various ear infections and tantrums that would wake us in the middle of the night. We were told that he was just like other boys who may be a little slower in developing and a hearing test might give us some answers to his indifference to his environment and his numerous ear infections.

Jonas Dear developed signs of autism after his family was ill.

We started doing our own research after Jonas' refusal to cooperate with the hearing test. We quickly discovered that all the signs pointed to autism.

We were somewhat prepared for the diagnosis by the child neurologist our pediatrician referred us to. It took him minutes to confirm our worst fears. It was not the official diagnosis or the fact that our former pediatrician missed these early signs that shocked us most. It was the single Post-it note that contained all the information we left his office with that day. In barely legible penmanship it listed the Web sites of a few treatment facilities and a suggested book in response to our question about where we could get help and treatment for our autistic son.

We quickly learned in our mad dash after the diagnosis that the treatment needed to possibly mainstream Jonas would cost tens of thousands of dollars a year. Insurance would not pay for applied behavioral analysis, or ABA, which, from what we were reading, appeared to be the most successful and costly treatment. It was a no-brainer that we would spend every last resource available to see that Jonas would get the early Intervention that he desperately needed. The clock seemed to be ticking faster as we kept hearing from top institutes and centers: There was a six-to-twelve month waiting list just for evaluations.

We felt as if we'd won the lottery when Emory Autism Center said it had a spot just open in its toddler program, even though the neurologist had told us that was improbable. That was eight months ago. Jonas has now been enrolled at the center for nearly seven months.

About a month ago we had one of those moments that would make any parent melt. We always give our kids hugs and kisses right before they go to bed and tell them "I love you. ". Jonas as usual hugged us, but this time he looked straight into our eyes and said in a soft voice "I wuv you." He's done this every night since. Priceless.

Editor's Note: Medical news is a popular but sensitive subject rooted in science. We receive many comments on this blog each day; not all are posted. Our hope is that much will be learned from the sharing of useful information and personal experiences based on the medical and health topics of the blog. We encourage you to focus your comments on those medical and health topics and we appreciate your input. Thank you for your participation.