“Having a child makes you realize the importance of life – narcissism goes out the window. Heaven on earth is looking at my little boy. The minute he was born, I knew if I never did anything other than being a mom, I’d be fine.”

A talk show is difficult because the formula is always the same: there’s a host and there’s guests. Really what you can change is only so much. So, I don’t have any pre-interviews, which forces real conversation.

Those outside of autism need to understand this is an epidemic and we need more government funding, insurance coverage and education reform.

Craziest thing I’ve done for love is getting married. I think it’s crazy. I think it’s crazy, crazy, crazy. I’m never going to say I wouldn’t do it again but I have to make sure it’s love and not settling for the ‘I have to do this by a certain age,’ which is kind of what I did.

For a seriously autistic kid, the best prognosis might be getting into a mainstream school without being too much of a shadow. For a moderately autistic kid the best prognosis is full recovery.

I look at autism like a bus accident, and you don’t become cured from a bus accident, but you can recover.

Google is one of the most incredible breakthroughs that we have today. Yes, it can scare a lot of patients, thinking we’re all dying because we look up something on Google. But there’s also a lot of anecdotal information from parents, firsthand accounts of what they did for their own child.

All those girls who were mean to me[in high school], I pay them back by going through the drive-through window and asking for my burger. That feels really great.

It’s absolutely imperative for the parents and the typical kids to have time by themselves, to go out to dinner or even go on vacation while someone else cares for the autistic child.

I can’t even begin to tell you how many casting couches I was attacked on. Not just by casting people, but by stars.

I figured out something spiritual. Billboard this: ‘Life is supposed to be fun!’

I have my once-a-month nachos, but it’s soy cheese and turkey chili on it, so it’s somewhat safe. But it’s still a big vice for me, because I have a big bowl of it.

I don’t really go out much at all. But there are times when I’m like, ‘I gotta get out.’ Then we go to Vegas, and we’ll gamble.

I’m not as hard on myself anymore. I’m comfortable exactly where I am, though it took me until I was 34 years old! I still have things I’m really insecure about, but I’ve changed by loving me – C-section scars, stretch marks, and all.

I do believe sadly it’s going to take some diseases coming back to realize that we need to change and develop vaccines that are safe.

Kids will not listen to that. They’re going to experiment no matter what, so you have to be honest.

Without intervention today, the cost of care for adults with autism will be significantly greater and the burden will no longer lie with the parents, but on our entire society.