After Joe Cunningham drops off his 11-year-old son Patrick at school, he carefully watches the fifth grader enter a crowd of classmates. Even after all of these years of therapy, he can’t help but worry about how the children will receive his son.

Diagnosed at age 3 with autism, Patrick and his family faced an uphill battle. It wasn’t until Joe got involved with the Fathers Network, a program offered by United Way grantee Kindering Center, that he got a clear sense of how to help his son.

Through the Fathers Network, Joe learned how to look for the right kinds of therapists and how to navigate an educational system that wasn’t designed for Patrick. Maybe most important was the emotional support from the other dads, which helped Joe to be a great father to Patrick.

Today Patrick still has issues fitting in socially, and he probably always will, but he more than keeps up with his peers academically. This fall he will enter middle school as an honors math student and a member of the jazz band. These achievements are possible thanks to the rigorous speech and language therapy he received starting at an early age and the support his family enjoyed from Kindering Center and the Fathers Network.

United Way of King County invests in programs that identify developmental delays as early as possible and provide therapeutic services for children and their families. The earlier a disability or developmental concern can be detected, the better the chance of making adjustments that will maximize a child’s ability to thrive in school and in life.