March 14, 2025 • 14 mins
James Gutman announces his upcoming book "Hi World, I'm Dad: How Fathers Can Journey to Autism Awareness, Acceptance and Appreciation," now available for pre-order and due in stores June 19th. This deeply personal work chronicles his journey with his 14-year-old nonverbal son Lucas, moving beyond society's fear-based narrative about autism to discover the pure joy and genuine connection that comes from appreciating autism.
• Book explores the journey from fear and confusion to genuine appreciation of autism
• Available for pre-order on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Jessica Kingsley Publishing's website
• Written in the same storytelling style as James's blog and podcast
• Shares both challenging moments and beautiful revelations about raising Lucas
• Describes how the "worst case scenario" became a perfect life
• Highlights the refreshing honesty and purity that autism brings to Lucas's personality
• Intended for new parents, experienced parents, grandparents, and anyone wanting to understand autism
• Contains funny, emotional, and thought-provoking stories from their lives together
• Moves beyond awareness and acceptance to true appreciation
Preorder Today - https://amzn.to/4itLPPL - Let's spread the word about autism appreciation together—it's long overdue and will make the world a better place.
Preorder James Guttman’s new book – “Hi World, I’m Dad: How Fathers Can Journey to Autism Awareness, Acceptance, and Appreciation”
Follow Us On Facebook and Follow James Guttman on Instagram.
Also, be sure to read the blog that started it all - Hi Blog! I'm Dad.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Hi Pod, I am Dad.
He's not just Hi Dad, he's mydad, james Gutman.
Folks, it's james gutman, it'sHi pod, I'm dad.
It is mid-march 2025 and thisis it.
(00:34):
This is the podcast that I'vebeen talking about, the one
where I could finally tell allof you about my upcoming book,
now available for pre-ordereverywhere Hi Hi World I'm Dad
how fathers can journey toautism awareness, acceptance and
appreciation.
You can get it on Amazon.
You can get it on JessicaKingsley Publishing's website.
You can get it on Barnes NobleDue in stores June 19th.
(00:56):
I am so, so excited to be ableto finally share this with you
guys.
Talk to you a little bit aboutit, tell you what it is.
This is something that's been.
Share this with you guys.
Talk to you a little bit aboutit, tell you what it is.
This is something that's been abig part of my life now for
over a year just putting ittogether and writing it and
working with the amazing teamover at Jessica Kingsley
Publishing.
It has been everything that Iwanted it to be, at the exact
(01:19):
right time.
This is a book that the idea ofit, the idea of writing about my
son for those of you who don'tknow if you're new to this
podcast.
My son, lucas, is just about tobe 14 years old.
He's nonverbal, doesn't say anywords, has what some would call
, I guess, severe autism or juststruggles with life skills life
skills that a lot of parentsstopped doing for their kids
(01:41):
years ago.
I still do it for my son andit's been a big part of our
lives, but through all of thatwe've developed a bond.
I've learned to see the thingsabout him that are there because
of autism, that make him just awonderful person, and I think
that's a message that is sooften lost in kind of special
(02:02):
needs parenting or autismparenting, however you want to
put it.
I think a lot of times you reada few things.
You'll read either somebodywho's telling you how hard it is
and don't get me wrong, man, itis hard parenting in general.
It's hard parenting right whenit comes to a boy like mine.
It's hard because some of thethings that I have to take care
of are things that you know wekind of are done with at a
(02:23):
certain point.
You know tying his shoes andyou know preparing his food,
making sure he doesn't choke on,you know, a piece of chicken
that hasn't been cut enough orsomething.
So those things are difficulttoo and they're a big part of it
.
I don't focus on that.
I also don't focus on how youknow, despite his autism, he's a
great kid.
You know, he can do anything.
He can be a doctor or playfootball.
I don't, my son isn't a doctor.
(02:45):
My son isn't going to playfootball.
My son is a wonderful kid in somany ways because of autism.
What does that mean?
Well, it's, that's the wholeidea of autism appreciation the
idea that his personality isunique and kind and sweet and
pure in many ways because ofautism.
My son isn't malicious.
My son isn't malicious.
My son, you know, is loyal.
When he loves you, he loves you.
(03:07):
All the things that I've talkedabout here on this podcast and
in the blog, they're all in thisbook.
The book is written verysimilar to how I do my blog and
how I do all of my writing.
I tell you my stories about myson and I tell you the stories
not sugar-coated stories aboutmy son and I tell you the
(03:27):
stories, not sugarcoated.
There were dark times for me asa dad early on, when trying to
figure out who my son was andhow autism was affecting his and
in general our lives, and itwas scary and I'm not going to
come on here and I'm not goingto write a book and I'm not
going to do a podcast andpretend otherwise, because it
makes me look like a superhero.
You know, from the verybeginning I knew my boy, I love
my boy and I'll dig my feet out.
(03:47):
I didn't know anything from thevery beginning, I didn't know
what was happening.
I'm like, why is he doing this?
And that's part of the book andit's part of the thing that now
, in hindsight, being able tolook back, we can laugh about it
.
We can tell stories that youknow I've, I remember at the
time were frightening.
You know I talk about going tomusic together class with him,
which was a trip.
(04:08):
You know at the time that wewere coming to grips with what
exactly autism was and startingto finally say it out loud here,
I was bringing him to thismusic class.
I tell stories about that andsome of the things that he did
that at the time were mortifying.
But over time I can look backand I can smile and I can
(04:28):
remember it and in some ways Imiss it a little bit when he was
little.
I look at these old pictures ofhim when he was tiny and now
he's like a giant man in myhouse.
So I liked getting a chance totell those stories again and to
talk about him.
And one of the things that I Ifeel luckiest about when I get
to write about my son is thatanytime I write about him, by
(04:50):
the end of it I feel like closerto him than I felt in the
beginning, because here I am andwe feel it, man, we experience
it.
If you have a kid in your life,if you have somebody like Lucas,
or even if you just have atypical child, you know what
it's like day to day.
You live a life with them andyou love them and you have a
great bond and you're happy.
And you live a life with themand you love them and you have a
great bond and you're happy.
(05:10):
And you have moments throughoutthe day where you're like this
is amazing as a great kid, butto sit down and articulate all
the things that make your kidsspecial.
By the time you're done doingthat, you want to just go run
and hug your kid, and that'swhat I do.
I'm lucky enough that I get todo that.
My son doesn't push me away.
My son is a.
He's a big hugger, he likes tohang hang out, he likes to give
you kisses, sometimes over andover again, to the point where
you got to be like buddy no more, just stop with the kissing.
(05:31):
All right, we're good, we justgot bagels before and we're
online at the bagel store andhe'll be grabbing my head and
just kissing.
I'm like thank you buddy, thankyou buddy, thank you buddy.
It makes me happy.
And a lot of people don't thinkabout that aspect of it.
They think about raising a boylike mine and it's only about
(05:51):
the work and it's only about howhard it is and it's only about
how they could never do it.
You're so strong that you cando that.
And the reason why they saythat is because when they
picture doing it themselves,they're imagining a kid that
they don't know.
They're pasting a copy andpaste version of a kid with
(06:11):
autism into their imaginationand they're thinking I don't
want to help that kid, I don'twant to raise that kid.
They don't think of it as a kidthat they already know and love
and have a bond with, like Ihave.
So I want to do everything formy son.
My son asks for nothing and Iwant to give him everything.
He's like the only person Iknow who never asks for anything
His birthday, his Christmas youalmost have to like force
(06:32):
presence upon him.
If that's not autismappreciation, I don't know what
it is.
We talk all the time about allthe things we want for our kids.
I want a boy.
I just want my kid to be kindand sweet and not materialistic,
and loving and caring andalways know that I'm there for
them.
That's what I got right.
Does every parent have that?
(06:52):
No, does every parent with akid with autism have that?
I don't know.
I don't think so.
I don't know if you have a kidlike Lucas, but I can tell you
this Having been with my sonsince he was born, I've met
other kids in his class.
I have, you know, people in ourlives.
His friend Christian, mygirlfriend's son, christian, is
(07:17):
just like Lucas.
He's minimally verbal and he'sa wonderful person in some of
the exact same ways that my sonis.
And I've met people on thespectrum, whether it's
considered Hi functioning, lowfunction, whatever words you
want to use.
We spend so much time fightingabout words, which always makes
me laugh.
I have a.
My son doesn't use any wordsand meanwhile all of us who have
millions of words, we end upmaking that a big conflict,
however you want to term it.
(07:37):
Some of the purest realistpeople, honest people, I know
have had autism, you know and Imean honest and sometimes people
think that's a negative, youknow they'll come out and be
like oh, you told me I was ugly,okay, but at least you know, at
least he's not going to whisperit to somebody behind your back
and tell you something else.
And that's what I love about myson.
(07:58):
My son gives you a kiss becausehe wants to give you a kiss.
If my son asks for food, hewants that food.
He doesn't eat something andthen later on go.
I only took it because youwanted me to have it.
He doesn't do that.
Lucas is a real realist personyou've ever met and I got a
chance to write about him andthis book tells you that story.
Because you know what all thesethings.
(08:18):
I'm sitting here now talkingabout him and the way I'm
talking to you is how I talk toothers.
When I talk about lucas in mylife and I hear that from people
too they're're like I hear fromyou you talk about him.
You sound so happy because I am.
Every day I'm amazed by him andthe fact that I get a chance to
have him in my life, but thisdidn't happen overnight and this
(08:40):
didn't happen immediately.
This is something that, throughyears of worry and fear and not
understanding him and trying tofigure out like, why doesn't he
do this?
Why does he do that?
It takes a long time to findautism appreciation and that's
what this book was about, andthere's stories and it's funny
and it's all the ways that I'vewritten, all the things I've
written and I said in theinitial announcement and I'll
(09:03):
tell you guys now too.
This book is for so manydifferent people and that's what
I love about with their kidsscared about what's next.
This is for parents like me whohave kids years in that want to
read and be like, yes, that's,I agree, I feel that way too, or
(09:24):
I understand that, or maybethey forgot that, you know?
Oh, yes, I believe that.
But, like, life gets hard andsometimes I lose sight of that.
It's for them.
It's for people likegrandparents who know nothing
about this and now it's a partof their lives because their
grandchild has autism and theirfriends are going to ask them,
and their friends know even lessthan they do, and they have to
(09:45):
then turn around and explain itto them.
This book helps them.
This book is for people whoknow someone with autism.
This book is for you know,anybody that wants to understand
why this is so special in mylife and in the lives of others,
because, on its face and basedon what we've been told for
(10:06):
years and years and years, itshouldn't be the life we have
right now.
The one that I love and the onethat I wrote a book about, and
the one that I have anappreciation for, is the worst
case scenario for me.
From 10 years ago.
It was the world that we try toavoid before your kid is born.
It's the world that you try toavoid when your child is little.
(10:27):
Autism is sold as a fear tactic.
Don't have it in your life,don't catch the autism, don't
let your kid get autism.
No one tells you specificallywhy.
They just tell you not to haveit happen.
And then, when it does, what doyou do Besides beat yourself up
?
I beat myself up.
I couldn't imagine.
I kept thinking to myself whatdo we do?
Why is it like this?
And it took a few years toreally understand that this kid
(10:51):
is amazing.
The way he sees the world isamazing.
It's refreshing, it's pure andit's a real.
And the boy that I have in mylife is the best possible boy I
could have.
And the irony is that if Icould go back in time and tell
myself what he's like now, Iwould be fearful.
(11:13):
My son doesn't speak.
My son has life skill issuesAll these things that I told
myself when he was little heneeded to do in order to bring
happiness into our lives.
He doesn't speak.
My son has life skill issuesall these things that I told
myself when he was little heneeded to do in order to bring
happiness into our lives.
He doesn't do.
And yet he's brought so muchhappiness into our lives and
that's why I wrote this book andthat's why I'm so excited to
share it with everybody.
In eight years, I've prettymuch sold nothing, right?
(11:34):
This blog has been a labor oflove.
I have written twice a weekevery week since February of
2016.
I've done this podcast prettymuch every week since late 2019.
I would and I have done it forfree because I want everyone to
know who my son is and I wanteverybody to understand that if
(11:55):
you're going through this, Idon't want you to have to feel
the way I felt in the beginning,because in the end, even when
things don't turn out fine, theyare.
The worst case scenario endedup being our perfect lives.
I'm lucky to have him in mylife and if you know somebody
like Lucas, you're lucky to havethem in your life.
(12:16):
And if you don't know somebodylike Lucas, pick up this book,
read it and get to know him andyou'll be luckier for it.
There is no message that I ammore dedicated to than teaching
anyone about autism appreciation.
That's it.
I mean, we debate awareness, wedebate acceptance, and that's
great.
You guys can debate that allyou want.
(12:37):
For me, we go beyond that.
I'm aware of it.
I accept him, but when it comesto truly appreciating the
person he is, that's all I wantto do.
So thank you so much to all ofyou who have been listening for
your support through the years,for helping to build this blog
and build this podcast.
It means so much to me on alevel I can't even begin to
(12:57):
explain, and this book, honestly, is for all of you.
This, really, I just I can't.
I can't tell you how thankful Iam I really can't for the
opportunity to be able to toshare this with the world.
This book is our story.
It's stories of what happened.
I talk about bypass surgery.
(13:18):
I talk about the life-changingevents that I've dealt with in
the last 14 years and how it ledme to where we are today.
So do me a favor.
Head over.
I have links down below Amazon,barnes, noble, jkp all of them.
They have it there.
Follow us on social media.
We're going to have tons ofupdates and guess what?
(13:39):
Here's the coolest thing.
Check this out.
I'm not even done.
Right, we're not even done.
There's more to come in termsof some of the announcements we
still have to make.
So I'm excited about that.
But please do me a favor.
Pick up your copy today.
Get it ahead for June.
Love to know your thoughts onit.
Anybody out there who has achance to read it, please drop
me a line.
You can hit the contact pageover on Hi.
(14:02):
You can go over to Facebook.
I'm Hi on Instagram.
You can write me there.
Write me somewhere.
Tell me what you think of thisbook.
Leave a review if you get achance to read it beforehand, if
you pick it up and it comes inJune, let me know.
After then let's talk about this.
This is a subject I want us toshare with everybody.
Send this link to your friends,let people know about it.
Let's spread the word of autismappreciation together.
It's long overdue and it willmake the world a better place.
(14:25):
So thank you once again foryour support.
Head over again, hi World, I'mDad.
How Fathers Can Journey toAutism Awareness, acceptance and
Appreciation.
Available for pre-ordereverywhere.
Pre-order everywhere.
Pre-order it today.
Go over to Hi.
Monday, wednesday brand newblogs available.
Podcast here wherever pods arecasted.
All streaming services wereavailable there as well every
(14:46):
Friday yeah, follow on socialmedia, guys.
Thank you, it's going to be agreat year.
Always big things ahead.
I appreciate it Until next time.
James Guttman saying be well,bye pod, I'll see you next time.
Hi Pod, I am Dad.
He's not just Hi Dad, he's mydad, james Gutman.
Folks, it's james gutman, it'sHi pod, I'm dad.
It is mid-march 2025 and thisis it.
(00:34):
This is the podcast that I'vebeen talking about, the one
where I could finally tell allof you about my upcoming book,
now available for pre-ordereverywhere Hi Hi World I'm Dad
how fathers can journey toautism awareness, acceptance and
appreciation.
You can get it on Amazon.
You can get it on JessicaKingsley Publishing's website.
You can get it on Barnes NobleDue in stores June 19th.
(00:56):
I am so, so excited to be ableto finally share this with you
guys.
Talk to you a little bit aboutit, tell you what it is.
This is something that's been.
Share this with you guys.
Talk to you a little bit aboutit, tell you what it is.
This is something that's been abig part of my life now for
over a year just putting ittogether and writing it and
working with the amazing teamover at Jessica Kingsley
Publishing.
It has been everything that Iwanted it to be, at the exact
(01:19):
right time.
This is a book that the idea ofit, the idea of writing about my
son for those of you who don'tknow if you're new to this
podcast.
My son, lucas, is just about tobe 14 years old.
He's nonverbal, doesn't say anywords, has what some would call
, I guess, severe autism or juststruggles with life skills life
skills that a lot of parentsstopped doing for their kids
(01:41):
years ago.
I still do it for my son andit's been a big part of our
lives, but through all of thatwe've developed a bond.
I've learned to see the thingsabout him that are there because
of autism, that make him just awonderful person, and I think
that's a message that is sooften lost in kind of special
(02:02):
needs parenting or autismparenting, however you want to
put it.
I think a lot of times you reada few things.
You'll read either somebodywho's telling you how hard it is
and don't get me wrong, man, itis hard parenting in general.
It's hard parenting right whenit comes to a boy like mine.
It's hard because some of thethings that I have to take care
of are things that you know wekind of are done with at a
(02:23):
certain point.
You know tying his shoes andyou know preparing his food,
making sure he doesn't choke on,you know, a piece of chicken
that hasn't been cut enough orsomething.
So those things are difficulttoo and they're a big part of it
.
I don't focus on that.
I also don't focus on how youknow, despite his autism, he's a
great kid.
You know, he can do anything.
He can be a doctor or playfootball.
I don't, my son isn't a doctor.
(02:45):
My son isn't going to playfootball.
My son is a wonderful kid in somany ways because of autism.
What does that mean?
Well, it's, that's the wholeidea of autism appreciation the
idea that his personality isunique and kind and sweet and
pure in many ways because ofautism.
My son isn't malicious.
My son isn't malicious.
My son, you know, is loyal.
When he loves you, he loves you.
(03:07):
All the things that I've talkedabout here on this podcast and
in the blog, they're all in thisbook.
The book is written verysimilar to how I do my blog and
how I do all of my writing.
I tell you my stories about myson and I tell you the stories
not sugar-coated stories aboutmy son and I tell you the
(03:27):
stories, not sugarcoated.
There were dark times for me asa dad early on, when trying to
figure out who my son was andhow autism was affecting his and
in general our lives, and itwas scary and I'm not going to
come on here and I'm not goingto write a book and I'm not
going to do a podcast andpretend otherwise, because it
makes me look like a superhero.
You know, from the verybeginning I knew my boy, I love
my boy and I'll dig my feet out.
(03:47):
I didn't know anything from thevery beginning, I didn't know
what was happening.
I'm like, why is he doing this?
And that's part of the book andit's part of the thing that now
, in hindsight, being able tolook back, we can laugh about it
.
We can tell stories that youknow I've, I remember at the
time were frightening.
You know I talk about going tomusic together class with him,
which was a trip.
(04:08):
You know at the time that wewere coming to grips with what
exactly autism was and startingto finally say it out loud here,
I was bringing him to thismusic class.
I tell stories about that andsome of the things that he did
that at the time were mortifying.
But over time I can look backand I can smile and I can
(04:28):
remember it and in some ways Imiss it a little bit when he was
little.
I look at these old pictures ofhim when he was tiny and now
he's like a giant man in myhouse.
So I liked getting a chance totell those stories again and to
talk about him.
And one of the things that I Ifeel luckiest about when I get
to write about my son is thatanytime I write about him, by
(04:50):
the end of it I feel like closerto him than I felt in the
beginning, because here I am andwe feel it, man, we experience
it.
If you have a kid in your life,if you have somebody like Lucas,
or even if you just have atypical child, you know what
it's like day to day.
You live a life with them andyou love them and you have a
great bond and you're happy.
And you live a life with themand you love them and you have a
great bond and you're happy.
(05:10):
And you have moments throughoutthe day where you're like this
is amazing as a great kid, butto sit down and articulate all
the things that make your kidsspecial.
By the time you're done doingthat, you want to just go run
and hug your kid, and that'swhat I do.
I'm lucky enough that I get todo that.
My son doesn't push me away.
My son is a.
He's a big hugger, he likes tohang hang out, he likes to give
you kisses, sometimes over andover again, to the point where
you got to be like buddy no more, just stop with the kissing.
(05:31):
All right, we're good, we justgot bagels before and we're
online at the bagel store andhe'll be grabbing my head and
just kissing.
I'm like thank you buddy, thankyou buddy, thank you buddy.
It makes me happy.
And a lot of people don't thinkabout that aspect of it.
They think about raising a boylike mine and it's only about
(05:51):
the work and it's only about howhard it is and it's only about
how they could never do it.
You're so strong that you cando that.
And the reason why they saythat is because when they
picture doing it themselves,they're imagining a kid that
they don't know.
They're pasting a copy andpaste version of a kid with
(06:11):
autism into their imaginationand they're thinking I don't
want to help that kid, I don'twant to raise that kid.
They don't think of it as a kidthat they already know and love
and have a bond with, like Ihave.
So I want to do everything formy son.
My son asks for nothing and Iwant to give him everything.
He's like the only person Iknow who never asks for anything
His birthday, his Christmas youalmost have to like force
(06:32):
presence upon him.
If that's not autismappreciation, I don't know what
it is.
We talk all the time about allthe things we want for our kids.
I want a boy.
I just want my kid to be kindand sweet and not materialistic,
and loving and caring andalways know that I'm there for
them.
That's what I got right.
Does every parent have that?
(06:52):
No, does every parent with akid with autism have that?
I don't know.
I don't think so.
I don't know if you have a kidlike Lucas, but I can tell you
this Having been with my sonsince he was born, I've met
other kids in his class.
I have, you know, people in ourlives.
His friend Christian, mygirlfriend's son, christian, is
(07:17):
just like Lucas.
He's minimally verbal and he'sa wonderful person in some of
the exact same ways that my sonis.
And I've met people on thespectrum, whether it's
considered Hi functioning, lowfunction, whatever words you
want to use.
We spend so much time fightingabout words, which always makes
me laugh.
I have a.
My son doesn't use any wordsand meanwhile all of us who have
millions of words, we end upmaking that a big conflict,
however you want to term it.
(07:37):
Some of the purest realistpeople, honest people, I know
have had autism, you know and Imean honest and sometimes people
think that's a negative, youknow they'll come out and be
like oh, you told me I was ugly,okay, but at least you know, at
least he's not going to whisperit to somebody behind your back
and tell you something else.
And that's what I love about myson.
(07:58):
My son gives you a kiss becausehe wants to give you a kiss.
If my son asks for food, hewants that food.
He doesn't eat something andthen later on go.
I only took it because youwanted me to have it.
He doesn't do that.
Lucas is a real realist personyou've ever met and I got a
chance to write about him andthis book tells you that story.
Because you know what all thesethings.
(08:18):
I'm sitting here now talkingabout him and the way I'm
talking to you is how I talk toothers.
When I talk about lucas in mylife and I hear that from people
too they're're like I hear fromyou you talk about him.
You sound so happy because I am.
Every day I'm amazed by him andthe fact that I get a chance to
have him in my life, but thisdidn't happen overnight and this
(08:40):
didn't happen immediately.
This is something that, throughyears of worry and fear and not
understanding him and trying tofigure out like, why doesn't he
do this?
Why does he do that?
It takes a long time to findautism appreciation and that's
what this book was about, andthere's stories and it's funny
and it's all the ways that I'vewritten, all the things I've
written and I said in theinitial announcement and I'll
(09:03):
tell you guys now too.
This book is for so manydifferent people and that's what
I love about with their kidsscared about what's next.
This is for parents like me whohave kids years in that want to
read and be like, yes, that's,I agree, I feel that way too, or
(09:24):
I understand that, or maybethey forgot that, you know?
Oh, yes, I believe that.
But, like, life gets hard andsometimes I lose sight of that.
It's for them.
It's for people likegrandparents who know nothing
about this and now it's a partof their lives because their
grandchild has autism and theirfriends are going to ask them,
and their friends know even lessthan they do, and they have to
(09:45):
then turn around and explain itto them.
This book helps them.
This book is for people whoknow someone with autism.
This book is for you know,anybody that wants to understand
why this is so special in mylife and in the lives of others,
because, on its face and basedon what we've been told for
(10:06):
years and years and years, itshouldn't be the life we have
right now.
The one that I love and the onethat I wrote a book about, and
the one that I have anappreciation for, is the worst
case scenario for me.
From 10 years ago.
It was the world that we try toavoid before your kid is born.
It's the world that you try toavoid when your child is little.
(10:27):
Autism is sold as a fear tactic.
Don't have it in your life,don't catch the autism, don't
let your kid get autism.
No one tells you specificallywhy.
They just tell you not to haveit happen.
And then, when it does, what doyou do Besides beat yourself up
?
I beat myself up.
I couldn't imagine.
I kept thinking to myself whatdo we do?
Why is it like this?
And it took a few years toreally understand that this kid
(10:51):
is amazing.
The way he sees the world isamazing.
It's refreshing, it's pure andit's a real.
And the boy that I have in mylife is the best possible boy I
could have.
And the irony is that if Icould go back in time and tell
myself what he's like now, Iwould be fearful.
(11:13):
My son doesn't speak.
My son has life skill issuesAll these things that I told
myself when he was little heneeded to do in order to bring
happiness into our lives.
He doesn't speak.
My son has life skill issuesall these things that I told
myself when he was little heneeded to do in order to bring
happiness into our lives.
He doesn't do.
And yet he's brought so muchhappiness into our lives and
that's why I wrote this book andthat's why I'm so excited to
share it with everybody.
In eight years, I've prettymuch sold nothing, right?
(11:34):
This blog has been a labor oflove.
I have written twice a weekevery week since February of
2016.
I've done this podcast prettymuch every week since late 2019.
I would and I have done it forfree because I want everyone to
know who my son is and I wanteverybody to understand that if
(11:55):
you're going through this, Idon't want you to have to feel
the way I felt in the beginning,because in the end, even when
things don't turn out fine, theyare.
The worst case scenario endedup being our perfect lives.
I'm lucky to have him in mylife and if you know somebody
like Lucas, you're lucky to havethem in your life.
(12:16):
And if you don't know somebodylike Lucas, pick up this book,
read it and get to know him andyou'll be luckier for it.
There is no message that I ammore dedicated to than teaching
anyone about autism appreciation.
That's it.
I mean, we debate awareness, wedebate acceptance, and that's
great.
You guys can debate that allyou want.
(12:37):
For me, we go beyond that.
I'm aware of it.
I accept him, but when it comesto truly appreciating the
person he is, that's all I wantto do.
So thank you so much to all ofyou who have been listening for
your support through the years,for helping to build this blog
and build this podcast.
It means so much to me on alevel I can't even begin to
(12:57):
explain, and this book, honestly, is for all of you.
This, really, I just I can't.
I can't tell you how thankful Iam I really can't for the
opportunity to be able to toshare this with the world.
This book is our story.
It's stories of what happened.
I talk about bypass surgery.
(13:18):
I talk about the life-changingevents that I've dealt with in
the last 14 years and how it ledme to where we are today.
So do me a favor.
Head over.
I have links down below Amazon,barnes, noble, jkp all of them.
They have it there.
Follow us on social media.
We're going to have tons ofupdates and guess what?
(13:39):
Here's the coolest thing.
Check this out.
I'm not even done.
Right, we're not even done.
There's more to come in termsof some of the announcements we
still have to make.
So I'm excited about that.
But please do me a favor.
Pick up your copy today.
Get it ahead for June.
Love to know your thoughts onit.
Anybody out there who has achance to read it, please drop
me a line.
You can hit the contact pageover on Hi.
(14:02):
You can go over to Facebook.
I'm Hi on Instagram.
You can write me there.
Write me somewhere.
Tell me what you think of thisbook.
Leave a review if you get achance to read it beforehand, if
you pick it up and it comes inJune, let me know.
After then let's talk about this.
This is a subject I want us toshare with everybody.
Send this link to your friends,let people know about it.
Let's spread the word of autismappreciation together.
It's long overdue and it willmake the world a better place.
(14:25):
So thank you once again foryour support.
Head over again, hi World, I'mDad.
How Fathers Can Journey toAutism Awareness, acceptance and
Appreciation.
Available for pre-ordereverywhere.
Pre-order everywhere.
Pre-order it today.
Go over to Hi.
Monday, wednesday brand newblogs available.
Podcast here wherever pods arecasted.
All streaming services wereavailable there as well every
(14:46):
Friday yeah, follow on socialmedia, guys.
Thank you, it's going to be agreat year.
Always big things ahead.
I appreciate it Until next time.
James Guttman saying be well,bye pod, I'll see you next time.
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