It’s Time!

📘 Hi World! I’m Dad: How Fathers Can Journey From Autism Awareness To Acceptance To Appreciation
James Guttman’s new book hits stores worldwide on June 19th!
But you can get it now! Also Available in Audiobook!
👉 Click here to get it on Amazon

This is it. This is the week my book, Hi World, I’m Dad, releases worldwide. It’s a moment I’ve anticipated for years – one that defines the work I try to put into the world through my writing.

My commentary on raising a non-verbal child with autism tends to veer toward the positives. I explain to readers how my son, Lucas, is wonderful just as he is. There’s no need for a cure. Nothing to fix. He’s perfect.

In fact, there are parts of his personality that are beautiful because of, not despite, autism. That’s a strange concept when so many narratives center on the idea that people like my son are great because deep down, “they’re just like us.”

Let me be clear. Lucas is not “just like everyone.” Everyone should be so lucky. Lucas is his own person in every sense. He marches to the beat of his own drummer and many of us can’t even hear his drum at all.

Don’t get me wrong. My 14-year-old with autism is still a 14-year-old. He doesn’t want to get up for school. He wants to be left alone in his room most days. He’s not a visitor from another planet. In that respect, sure, he’s like us.

But personality-wise? He couldn’t be more different than most people you meet. The same goes for his point of view and what motivates him.

Lucas will never catch a touchdown in a high school football game. Not even in some feel-good charity moment orchestrated for YouTube. He doesn’t want to, wouldn’t try, and would be miserable setting foot on the field.

Plug anything into that scenario – prom dances, homecoming parades, movie-style accolades. They mean nothing to him. He doesn’t want them and, in most cases, doesn’t even know they exist. That’s the stuff we do. That’s not the stuff Lucas does.

Call it “severe autism,” “low functioning,” or any other label that helps you make sense of it. However you define it, just know this – my son is happy. And when you truly witness him living in his world, you’ll see something pure and beautiful on a level I never knew existed.

It’s beautiful because he builds it himself. The things Lucas loves are things he chooses. No one pressures him. He doesn’t care about trends, social media, or celebrity opinions. He picks his toys and shows based purely on how they make him feel. His joy is unfiltered.

That’s everything I’d ever want for either of my kids. Honestly, it’s what I want for myself. Life should be about making yourself happy, not worrying about what other people think.

So when I write about my son, I point these things out. I try to show that even in what I once viewed as a “worst-case” scenario, things can be perfect. I get to witness a wondrous world that my son created—and I get to embrace it.

Still, some people think I’m just searching for positivity in a sea of struggle. They assume I’m trying to find a silver lining to his autism.

To that, I say this: I’m not searching for a silver lining.

Lucas is the silver lining.

He’s the one who pulls me out of this world, with all its stress and noise. He’s the one offering a hug when others might walk away. He smiles at me on the days I can’t smile for myself. He makes my life complete.

His sister lifts me up too, in different but equally powerful ways. Her kindness, her understanding, and quiet strength remind me daily how lucky I am to be the dad to both of them. Together, they both teach me, just in their own unique languages.

That’s what Autism Appreciation means. That’s why I write what I do. And that’s why this book – Hi World, I’m Dad – focuses on that journey.

It’s a gift from Heaven. One that few people realize at first, but once I explain it, they often can’t see it any other way.

Will he catch a touchdown for the home team? Nope. Win prom king? Not a chance. He doesn’t want to and I don’t need him to.

Will he make me proud every day? He already does. Will he live his life unapologetically and help others see the world through the purest eyes? He’s doing that, too.

I write about Autism Appreciation. That’s not about silver linings. I don’t need to find one. Lucas is the silver lining. And everyone needs to know that.