Jen Lewis was a speechwriter at an embassy and deciding between a Ph.D. program and law school when she got pregnant with her son, H (we're using his first initial and her maiden name to protect their privacy). By the time H was a toddler, he had been diagnosed with epilepsy, autism spectrum disorder, and behavioral problems, which resulted in tantrums that were so violent, Lewis estimates she went through 50 pairs of glasses in one year; H would rip them off her face, breaking them. Multiple childcare centers banned H from attending. Leaving him with a babysitter wasn't an option, either. After going through as many as 30 sitters, Lewis was put on "the blacklist of the neighborhood," she says.
Without many choices, Lewis quit her job to take care of H. She put her plans to go back to school on hold, before eventually shelving them for good. When, a few years later, she finally found a special needs preschool for H, Lewis returned to part-time grant-writing work and began to feel like herself again.
