Leadership Lessons From a Child with Autism

I have been leading people since I was a 16-year-old in high school working at a restaurant in the town where I grew up. Leadership has always been a passion for me and after years of study, reading dozens of leadership books, listening to mentors and accumulating great experience on the way to a successful career I have come to understand one thing: I can still learn something new about leadership. In my case, one of the best sources of ongoing leadership lessons is my 15-year-old son who has high functioning autism.

With roughly 1 in 88 children diagnosed with autism today, it is likely you have parents in your extended circle of family and friends who are raising a child on the autistic spectrum. For clarification and perhaps education purposes, you should be aware that people suffering from autistic spectrum disorder will always present differently. These wonderful people are all unique and their symptoms can range from very low-functioning and non-verbal to very bright and verbal. A disorder that includes such a broad and varied range of symptoms is often called a spectrum disorder; hence the term "autism spectrum disorder." The most significant and commonly shared symptom is in the area of social communication, which includes challenges with direct eye contact, normal conversation, communicating ideas, empathy and reading facial expressions or social cues.