Your Child Was Just Diagnosed With Autism — Here's What to Do First

The Advisor with Stacey Chillemi · Apr 14, 2026 · 40m

The word lands and everything shifts. The questions start immediately — what does this mean, what do we do, where do we even begin. In those first overwhelming days most parents are searching for someone who actually knows — not just clinically but personally. Lorri Shealy Unumb is both. As CEO of the Council of Autism Service Providers and a nationally recognized autism attorney she has shaped policy and guided families at the highest levels. And as a mother of a child with autism she has lived the exact moment you are in right now. What she shares about early intervention, ABA therapy, and…