Slings and Arrows: One Mother's True Account of Triumph over Tragedy

In September 2005, everything was going well. We had one year old twins and although they were exhausting, they were fun. We’d just finished our first beach holiday together. Then, on September 6th, one of our twins - Alec - crawled through the bars of his bedroom window and fell more than 15 feet. As he lay in a coma, we had to face the possibility that he might not survive. On September 6th and in the months after, it was just one thing - hope - that kept us going. This is the true story of how we emerged from the worst days of our lives - and what that terrible day taught us about ourselves. A year after the accident, we discovered that both Alec and his twin brother Bobby were autistic. Deborah Elley is now co-editor of AuKids magazine, a positive parenting magazine for autistic children.