When seven-year-old Luke Kish was an infant, his parents, Erin and Ed, thought everything about him was perfect. That is until they realized something wasn’t quite right.

“He babbled and he did make some noises...cooed, everything typically up until about 18 months to two years old,” said Erin Kish. “That was when he started pulling away developmentally.”

After a year of speech therapy, things were not getting any better, and Erin received life-changing news.

“The speech therapist approached me and said, ‘You need to have him diagnosed,’ Kish said. “And, I’m like, ‘Diagnosed with what?,’ and she said, ‘I think he’s autistic.’”

The Kishes are among one and a half million American families who struggle with autism on a daily basis. To learn more about the disorder log on to www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/ or www.autismspeaks.org.