McKenna Autism Consulting

Being an autism parent is confusing. I know, because I’m an autism parent, too. Over the years, I’ve had endless questions for Google and friends. Sometimes I got helpful answers, other times not. 

For me, it all began with the question: Why can’t my child talk?

Then other questions followed: Why does my child love the credits at the end of movies? Why does my child scream all the time? Why did my child learn how to read before he could talk? Why does my son hate being touched? 

After I got the autism diagnosis, the questions kept coming: Where do I get my son the right help? Will my insurance company pay for therapy? What’s the best kind of school for him? How can he make friends? 

After weeks of research and shopping for therapists, we would settle into a routine, and I felt like I could relax a bit. Inevitably, a short time later, he would reach a new stage of development, which meant more questions and more research. 

Making things easier for other autism parents has been my life mission. I want to lower the autism parenting learning curve and foster a thriving autism community. I’ve been using my background as a professor and writer to help other autism parents for almost 20 years. This newsletter is a continuation of that work. 

In The Autism Insider, I’ll share research and resources about autism, written in an accessible style. I’ll tackle topics like ABA, speech therapy, IEPs, guardianship,  special autism colleges, SSI, and day program waitlists. Autism is a lifelong journey, so we’ll support families from diagnosis through adulthood. 

Some of you may have subscribed to The Autism College Connection newsletter. For the short term, that content will be included in this newsletter.  Down the road, I’ll provide segmented newsletters aimed at different ages/stages.

This newsletter is just one part of a growing body of resources and services offered at McKenna Autism Consulting. Our newsletter will keep you updated about upcoming events, presentations, webinars, and new tech tools, all designed to make things easier for busy autism parents.

Read the 5/11/26 issue of The Autism Insider

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