Somewhere out there, on some other timeline, in some other plane of existence, another version of me is living the life I had planned. I picture her to be a peacefully content, self-assured supermom and a bit of a smug know-it-all—very likely an insufferable pain in the ass. I’ll try not to judge her, though, because bless her heart, she means well and doesn’t know any better.

Jennifer Rosado approached childbirth the careful way she approached most things in life: with extensive research and thorough planning and preparation. But her expectations of a perfect labor, delivery, and bonding experience with her newborn son immediately collided with reality, and from that point forward her life was never the same. With disarming candor, Rosado tells the story of her son’s challenging childhood years, her own need for control and lifelong battles with anxiety, and the ways that her son’s diagnosis of autism changed her perspective and view of the world.

Rosado beautifully captures the sense of isolation, loss of identity, and yearning for ‘normal,’ while sharing the wisdom she gains from years of experience living a life completely unlike the life she had expected. This engaging memoir is not just about what it’s like to raise a child with autism; it’s about Rosado’s inspiring journey of acceptance, adaptation, and self-discovery in a strange, humbling, enlightening alternate universe.