Melanie has two children and lives in North Royalton.

What do you do to relax?

I go to a salt cave to relax. We live near the Holistic Halo Salt Spa, and it has a private salt room. You can either use it alone or bring your family. For 30 minutes, you just breathe in the salty air, and the floor is covered in salt, and the kids can play in it. It definitely relaxes us and redirects my son.

What benefits has Connecting for Kids brought to you and your family?

We found a lot of organizations and activities at the Resource Fairs. I also met some amazing people who work for Connecting for Kids at some of the programs. Especially when my son was younger and I felt so clueless, I didn't know anyone in my situation, and I didn't know who to turn to.

The bad habit I picked up...

Trying to do everything for my children. They need to learn, and fail if need be.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself the day we got the diagnosis I would say...

It's not as bleak as the doctor made it out to be. It's going to be hard as heck, but you can do it.

When my child's behavior gets out of control, I feel...

Embarrassed at first. But then I realize that he can't help it. Also, I think these complete strangers are people I'll probably never see again and maybe they have a differently-abled person at home, too

Do you have any recommended resources such as blogs, websites, or books that we can share?

The 3 big things that have helped our family are

The Arc of Ohio – Helped us figure out waivers and get a support team in place. 

Akron Rotary Camp | Akron Area YMCA Camps -- Has amazing respite weekends and an overnight summer camp for kids, which has given me a chance to have time to clean and travel while my son has a blast.

Rec2Connect – Offers recreation therapy. THE BEST place to go for sports and activities for differently-abled people. Included. Always. is their motto, and the owner, Jen Knott, is fantastic.

Is there anything else about your journey that you would like to share with other parents?

Some years will be better than others. Get a support team in place, join groups, talk to your neighbors. By just striking up random conversations with complete strangers, I have gained such useful knowledge and learned about places I never would have known about. My son is at Insightful Minds this year, and I wish I had known about the place sooner. He is thriving there, not just surviving.