Monique Cain

Monique Cain grew up in the lovely seaside town of Rosebud, Australia and is married to Michael, her high school sweetheart. They have two very special children Madi and Thomas who are both autistic.

As Monique says, "Every parent has dreams for her children and Michael and I were no different. Our reality changed when Madi was about 2 years old and we suddenly realised that she had some major behavioural challenges that couldn’t be resolved by diet, discipline, or sleep. It took a while to work out what was going on with Madi because we were completely unprepared. Thomas’ diagnosis was much easier because we knew what to look for even though his symptoms were different.”

I started writing in response to a request from Madi’s teacher who wanted to help other kids understand her better. I tried to speak in Madi’s voice so they could see that autism is not something to be scared of and that kids who are ‘different’ still want to be friends. The response to that book was amazing and I went on to get it professionally illustrated and published.

I am blessed to be surrounded by many supportive friends and family, but parenting autistic children is not easy. I guess the judgement I felt when my kids misbehaved in public and the heartbreak that came when my children were labelled ‘dumb’ or simply treated as though they didn’t exist has fuelled my desire to write and reach out to other parents of autistic kids and encourage them. I also want to reach out to the wider public (both children and adults) so that they can understand what goes on inside the heads and hearts of autistic children. Life with autism (for both the sufferer and their family) is pretty tough without the extra burdens of judgement and rejection.