INTRODUCTIONS!

My name is Don Cobb. I live in Santa Rosa CA with my wonderful wife Dawn and our incredible daughter Madison who is 11 years old and diagnosed with PDD NOS. We've been involved with - and blessed by - Lorna from CATS, who has provided speakers and information and support groups for we parents who have children on the Autism spectrum. It was at one of our gatherings this morning that I thought to create an online discussion forum for Sonoma County parents to meet, greet and support one another.

I'm the proud father of Madison as well as our older daughters Danielle and Brittany (24 & 20). It has been quite the adventure as we entered the public school system with a "Learning Disability" diagnosis from the school system, only to learn later that it is not a learning disability at all but a high-functioning Autism diagnosis. Even the term "high-functioning" can be misleading, as Maddy's symptoms sometimes cause her not to be able to communicate what she's thinking which would certainly make one question the application of the term "high functioning". Over time, however, and thanks to North Bay Regional providing services for our daughter, Maddy has overcome many of the Autism symptoms which used to be part of her daily life.

Every morning my daughter comes into my den and lays across my chest and we pray together, that God would give us both the strength and the power to say what we want to say and to do what we want to do each day. We pray that His Spirit would fill us and that we would bless others and be blessed by others around us. We thank Him for giving us another day we ask Him to help us be mindful of Him and the plans He has for us each day. Since we began these prayers, some of the symptoms that used to restrict my daughter have melted away. She has become more free and more capable of communicating in ways she previously struggled. We know the Social Skills classes and other services we've received had contributed to Maddy overcoming some of her Autism symptoms, but we all know that God answers prayers, and for that we are both very grateful.

I love music, have a band called The Message (http://www.themessageproject.com and last week Maddy came into my studio with and laid down a few vocal tracks! You can hear her here: http://www.themessageproject.com/youareworthy.mp3 I will let my wife Dawn login and introduce herself to you. :-)

Maddy loves music, loves to play games indoor or outdoors, loves soccer, tetherball and just playing with other girls. She is creative, loves to read and to write stories. She tends to be very shy when first meeting someone, but once they launch into playtime she opens right up and is a very pleasant and kind little girl. Maddy also loves going to the movies and going out to dinner, and so do Dawn and I.

It's nice to meet you!