Welcome to The Blue Light of Hope. For those that don't know me, my name is Claro Duran. I am married to a wonderful woman named Arlene, and we have a son named Jason, who has been diagnosed with autism and bipolar disorder. We live in Sunrise, Florida, which is in Broward County, near Fort Lauderdale. I got the idea to start this blog from seeing the blogs of my friends and how it helped to pass along aspects of their life to everyone else in a way that is hard to do on Facebook and other social media sites. I wanted something different, though. I wanted mine to be helpful and informative, for those either struggling with a family member with autism or those who personally know of someone that needs help. I'm starting this blog with a certain idea of how I want it to go, but like all things in life, it has the potential to go in directions I never imagined. I plan on talking about different businesses that are "autism-friendly" here in South Florida, either from personal experience or from recommendations from people I trust. I also want to share how everyday occurrences either impact my son's life or our own. I welcome any suggestions or advice, but please don't be offended if I don't act on it. Many people tell us stuff meaning well, but it usually is something we have either already tried or just wouldn't work due to circumstances regarding Jason that we don't talk about. We try to share as much as we can so that people can learn from him and from our mistakes (and occasional successes), but there are things about him that we keep private simply because it just isn't fair to him.
I will end this welcome post with a (hopefully) brief explanation as to the title of the blog itself. It comes from a combination of two sources: the comic book series "Green Lantern" and the organization Autism Speaks. Autism Speaks is
the nation's largest autism science and advocacy organization, dedicated to funding research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a cure for autism; increasing awareness of autism spectrum disorders; and advocating for the needs of individuals with autism and their families.
They can be found at autismspeaks.org. They are represented by a blue puzzle piece. The puzzle piece symbolizes the missing piece to the puzzle that is autism, which would reveal the cause and cure for autism. Anyone that has ever met me in person since Jason's diagnosis knows that I wear a pin of said puzzle piece all the time. The Green Lantern connection is more recent. In the comic books and upcoming summer movie, Green Lantern is one of many members of the Green Lantern Corps, an intergalactic police force that uses rings powered by the user's will to make solid light constructs. In the comics, it has been revealed that there are other Lantern Corps using other emotions to power their rings, represented by different colored lights. One such Corps is the Blue Lantern Corps, whose rings are powered by hope. Although I had an affinity for the Blue Lanterns from their introduction, it was Arlene who made the connection to their use of hope of the shared use of blue with the blue puzzle pieces of Autism Speaks. We have both been fans of the Blue Lanterns ever since. Hence the name of this blog. Corny? Probably, but we continue to hope every day that the cause of autism is found, perhaps even a cure, and most definitely hope for a better life for our son. I'll embrace the corniness and put my faith in the blue light of hope.
