A Fork Amongst The Spoons

Facing a Stormy Future . . . The future can be a scary place for parents with an autistic child. It looms there on the horizon with storm clouds of questions that never quite seem to break . . . Will our son finish school? Where do we find teachers who can help? Will he find a job? Can he live on his own? Raising a child with autism is a sea full of questions. A Fork Amongst the Spoonsbegins in 2005 with Hank Smith’s son Ian about to enter middle school — a school full of kids who have never encountered someone on the autistic spectrum. Hank and his wife Michelle try to put their fears aside. As the days turn to weeks, the weeks to months and years, the roles of father and son, mother and child slowly evolve as Ian learns to walk his own path. His steps grow more confident as he learns about the ‘normal’ world and how to navigate his way through it – accepting that he is a fork amongst the spoons. Hank and Michelle’s questions drop away until finally only one remains . . . What will happen to our son when we’re gone? Picturing a future they will never see, a life they will never be a part of . . . the storm is here.