I am a dad. Not a common dad. Rather, I am uncommon. Uncommon and very much like Dan Marino, Doug Flutie, Joe Mantegna, Sylvester Stallone, and Ed Asner. We are all dads to children with autism, or, as I will call us, “Autism Dads.” Having a child on the spectrum is a unique dad experience. And having a child that receives an autism diagnosis can be surprising. Adjustment to this new information can take some time. When we have a family member with autism, each family member's role must shift a little with unknown expectations. This chapter has the purpose of sharing from one dad to another some of the important steps you should consider taking to support your child on the autism spectrum in the kindergarten-through-high-school academic journey. First, a discussion of relevant literature and finally some tips and suggestions based on experience are presented.
