Abstract
A child is born. He is the first son of a man and a woman who were married for 3 years before they planned this conception, and who were delighted when the wife became pregnant. Throughout the pregnancy the husband and wife shared their dreams of what life in a family would be like and the multitude of happy possibilities for the child’s future. They decorated a room—in pale yellow and green so that it would suit a boy or a girl—and began the process of rearranging their lives to accommodate a third person. As they envisioned their life with a child, the couple found themselves drawn even closer than in the past. This infant was to be a tangible sign of the bond of love that held them together. The man, sometimes still impatient with the failings of his own parents, found himself mellowing as he began to contemplate his role as a father. The woman, feeling herself now well beyond the separation process of adolescence, was able to enjoy her parents more than she had in years.
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Harris, S.L., Powers, M.D. (1984). Behavior Therapists Look at the Impact of an Autistic Child on the Family System. In: Schopler, E., Mesibov, G.B. (eds) The Effects of Autism on the Family. Current Issues in Autism. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2293-9_12
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