A “Village” for Autistic Kids in Fremont

“There’s this cultural stigma that you must have been sinful to have a child like this……You must have eaten something wrong when you were pregnant.”

Says autism mother Anna Wang about how autism is viewed in her homeland of China. Wang and her husband, Albert, stated the Friends of Children with Special Needs Dream Center in Fremont, California, some ten years ago. As noted in the December 5th San Jose Mercury-News, the Center enables families to lean on and learn from each other; it is described as a “‘village’ where friends transform into family who look out for the group — especially each other’s kids.” While the Center is particularly attuned to the needs of Chinese American families, all are welcome.

“Before, I was all alone,” said Jezz Lam, 36, of Fremont. “I had friends. But they don’t have autistic kids, so when I tell them my problems, they just say, `Oh really?’ Now, I meet a lot of new mommies. They come to my house. I go to theirs. My husband says I’ve found new soul mates.”

It not only takes a village to help an autistic child; you have to be the village.