For those who are coming to my blog and are recently diagnosed, let me give you some helpful places to look for information.

Autism Speaks – the 800 pound gorilla of Autism advocacy.  They do tend to be a bit polarizing – folks ether love them or hate them, but as I’ve said in other places in the blog, look to them for where they’re useful.  They do have quite a bit of information, do a great deal of generating public awareness, and their lobbying is second to none.  I’m looking forward to seeing if their MSSNG effort with Google ends up helping with treatment down the road.  Their political lobbying wing is Autism Votes.

Autism Society of America – Another of the larger national organizations that supports families with Autism.  Their local chapter, Autism Society of Baltimore-Chesapeake, runs a monthly meeting, outings for children, and educational opportunities for the parents.

Pathfinders for Autism – A group in the Baltimore area, they still has a lot of good online resources, though they’re more geared towards local family support.

The Arc – I love my local chapter.  They’re the ones who host the Dads Talk group that I go to (for fathers of children with all sorts of disabilities, not just Autism), and they help create a valuable place of safety where we can talk about our struggles and successes, while sharing resources we find in our local community.