The memory is as clear in Christina Adams' mind as if it happened yesterday.

It was the moment her then 3-year-old autistic son, Jonah, pointed for the first time.

"What's that?" Jonah aimed his tiny index finger at a minivan parked outside the window of the McDonald's where the two were dining.

"That's a car," his mom replied, nearly bursting with excitement at Jonah's pointing.

"There's cars in there," the preschooler replied.

Because of that simple action and exchange, Adams saw a light at the end of autism's dark tunnel. Now she's leading others down her path.

Adams spent nearly three years working on her personal memoir about Jonah's autism, intervention and recovery. The resulting book, A Real Boy: A True Story of Autism, Early Intervention, and Recovery, was published in May.

Now living in southern California, Adams still considers Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee home. When she was 14, Adams moved with her family to Scott County. She's a graduate of Gate City High School and Emory and Henry College. After college, she began a corporate communications career.

Marriage and the birth of Jonah followed as she pursued her passion for writing. She had just earned a master's degree in creative writing and finished her first novel when Jonah was diagnosed with autism.

She didn't stop writing. Only instead of the setting, characters and plot coming from her imagination, they came from the life of her son.

"When Jonah was diagnosed in 2000, people knew even less about autism than we do now," she said. "We ended up learning the most from families in our neighborhood who had children with autism."

Instead of relying on the limited knowledge available, Adams took control of her son's future, found out as much as she could about the disorder, and tailored a weekly treatment plan for his needs: 40 hours of one-on-one work with a behavioral teacher, three hours of speech therapy, two hours of occupational therapy, a gluten- and sugar-free diet, natural supplements, medications, and constant work with her son.

She will probably never know exactly what caused her toddler to develop autism, she said. Perhaps it was a combination of heredity and childhood vaccinations containing thimerosal, a mercury-based vaccine preservative, whose possible link to autism has been debated in recent years.

According to the Autism Association of America, one in every 250 babies born has some form of autism, a neurobiological disorder that affects brain function and development, especially in social interaction and communication skills.

Now 7, Jonah is living a normal life thanks to early intervention and aggressive therapy. Although there's no cure for the disorder yet, Adams said she's amazed at how far Jonah has come - people can't tell he falls within the spectrum of autism.

And Adams is sharing their story with anyone who will listen. Her writings on autism have appeared in The Los Angeles Times and Brain Child Magazine, she hosts a show on the Autism One Internet radio network and speaks to autism groups across the country.

It's a story she poured her whole life into, both while living and recounting it - and one she believes everyone can learn from.

"Today almost everyone has a family member or knows someone who's autistic," Adams said. "Autistic children and adults can be some of the most interesting and wonderful people."

For more information, visit Christina Adams on the Web at www.ChristinaAdamsWriter.com.

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