This MetroWest Daily News article outlined a part of parenting children with disabilities that is seldom discussed:
Six weeks ago, the Ortizes read in the local paper about a talk in Spanish for Latino parents of children with autism held at the library in downtown Framingham. They were thrilled. Since they moved to Framingham from their native Puerto Rico in 1998 looking for help for their then- 3-year-old daughter Yamilex, they have yearned to connect with other Latino parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). They were disappointed when they realized they were the only ones who attended the talk on April 5. It has been that way for the Ortizes, they said. For the past 10 years, they are often the only Latinos in support groups for families of children with ASD. And because Yamilex's mother, Judith, 46, doesn't speak English, they don't attend support groups. Yamilex's father, Tomas, 59, learned English when he was growing up in New York City, but he, too, feels lonely.