Glancing around the dinner table, I felt so lucky.

It was April 2018, and my husband, Jon*, and I were celebrating our 16th wedding anniversary, so we’d taken our kids to the local RSL for a meal.

Diagnosed with autism, they all struggled to communicate at times.

I was especially worried about our teenage daughter, Jay*, who kept to herself and didn’t have many friends.

After we found out she was being picked on at school, Jon had insisted our girl did