My goal in writing this book is twofold. For one, I think it is important to show a side of autism that is hardly, if ever, portrayed; and two, to maintain public awareness by teaching people how children with autism think. I was going to write a book that would have been titled Autism Sucks, but as I was writing, it became clear that all my old painful feelings were re-surfacing. These negative thoughts were not a true account of it all. Frankly, it started to sound like I needed a pity party, which I don't.

So I changed gears and thought about all the funny moments related to my children's autism. I then invited other parents and caregivers of children with autism to submit their own funny moments. The stories in this book were all generously shared by people who have in some way been affected by autism. As you read, you may notice that some of these stories were sent from people in other countries. We may be many miles apart, but we are all living in the same world of autism.

Raising children with autism is a daily struggle to teach them about the world in ways they can understand-so they can develop social behaviors that are as close to appropriate as possible. This requires the teacher (parent, grandparent, sibling, occupational therapist, physical therapist, speech therapist, educator, doctor, etc.) to get inside the autistic child's mind to try to present things in a way he can absorb and relate to the real world. This is much easier said than done.

As hard and as exhausting as it is, there are moments that catch you off-guard—funny moments that show how sweet and innocent autistic children are, and how they are just as desperately trying to comprehend our world as we are trying to comprehend theirs. Often, they can make you 'see' things you would otherwise take for granted. I've found that these moments are what fuel me to go on, and I sincerely hope they will do the same for you.