This is a more personal post than usual. Those of you who know my family are aware that my 12-year-old son is on the autism spectrum. Because autism has been in the news lately, I thought I’d share a recent experience to give you a little insight into the world of autism.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, autism affects one in 31 children, who are 8 years-old. With these increasing odds, there’s a high probability that you already know or know of a child with autism.

The autism spectrum is very broad. My son is high functioning in several areas, such as speaking fluidly. He also doesn’t have an intellectual disability. As a younger child, he couldn’t identify his emotions. For example, he was kicked out of preschool for throwing a chair and a toy. The primary challenge for him then and now is managing his behavior, especially when he is upset and his brain is stuck. He’s come a long way and usually understands what he’s feeling now but struggles to control his behavior in certain situations.

We recently took a working vacation to Orlando for the International Christian Visual Media Association’s annual Storytellers conference. I am learning how to adapt two of my books to film. While I attended the conference, my husband and two of our three sons enjoyed the area’s theme parks. (Our oldest son is in college.)

We had never before taken our children to Disney or Universal parks because they are so expensive and crowded during the summer. On this October trip, I went with them to two parks, one before and one after the conference.

One of the struggles that many autistic children have is transitioning from one thing to another. This could be something as simple as changing clothes in the morning or stopping a favored activity to get ready for bed. The more noisy and busy the environment, the harder the transition can be.

Hence, my youngest son had to adjust to each theme park’s very overwhelming environments filled with stimulating music and theatrical sights. We knew this would be a challenge and prepped for it by encouraging CJ to use his coping skills, which is pretending that he is driving a car while walking. Playing traffic lights helps him to block out a new or overwhelming environment. One characteristic of autism is hyper-focusing on favorite topics. CJ loves cars so much that he reads U.S. News and World Report’s car reviews, which is not typical for a 12 year-old.

The first park we attended was Disney’s Hollywood. We had prepped CJ for this transition by watching the first Toy Story movie at home before we left. Only recently has he been able to sit still long enough to watch an entire movie. Seeing familiar characters, such as Buzz Lightyear, helped him to relax and enjoy the rides, which were quite fun.

Transitioning to the park’s next section, Star Wars, proved much more challenging.

Star Wars is a highly immersive environment featuring aircrafts from the movies, opportunities to build droids and lightsabers, and cafes resembling the movies’ eateries or cabanas. Because my middle and oldest sons started following the Star Wars sagas with the launch of the last three movies in 2015, my middle son really wanted to explore this section of the park.

CJ, however, melted down. We split, with my husband taking my middle son to explore, and I took CJ to a quiet corner. This gave him space so he could get a hold of his emotions.

Then after a few minutes, the Mandalorian, the lead character from the Star Wars hit series, The Mandalorian, suddenly and literally appeared to come out of a rock that was really a door. After seeing the anxiety on CJ’s face, the Mandalorian made it his mission to cheer him up.

You can see the anxiety on CJ’s face as the Mandalorian’s tilts his head to show comfort.

He showed him Grogu, the moving puppet who looks like Baby Yoda.

Then, the Mandalorian gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder.

CJ began to soften and warm up to him.

Then the Mandalorian shook his hand.

CJ was won over. On that day, “this was the way,” to quote the series’ tagline. After meeting the Mandalorian, CJ was ready to ride the Star Wars thrill rides. This picture is from Smuggler’s Run, a simulation that make you feel like you are flying the Millennium Falcon in a daring fight. Each person has a role: pilot, engineer or gunner.

I can’t say that the rest of the trip was stress free. As we expected, there were daily challenges. But we learned awhile back that deploying one of your senses helps people with autism when their brains are stuck. Logic doesn’t work. A sensory distraction such as playing music or giving a comforting hug or reassuring hand shake, can help.

I know there are a lot of questions about Autism right now in the public discourse. Not only do we need a better idea of the many factors that cause it, but we also need effective treatments. Knowing the causes can prevent this neurological disorder in future children. Therapies, treatments and cures are desperately needed for children and adults on the spectrum.

Thanks for letting me share something personal about my family. We needed this vacation. The experience brought us closer as a family, which is what it is all about.