Where to begin?

I never thought I would feel relieved to think that my child had autism.  But that's exactly how I felt after the discussion with my aunt on the beach that warm, sunny, October day in 2007.  I went straight up from the beach to the computer and started reading.  I read about high functioning autism, Asperger's syndrome, and Sensory Processing Disorder (which is not considered autism).  I touched briefly on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, but it seemed like a disorder that was rarely diagnosed in young children so I moved back to the more autism related disorders.  Grace seemed to fit the criteria for high functioning autism in so many ways.  She had a sudden, unexplained loss of communication skills, and difficulty in social situations.  She would fixate on a game or activity for days and even weeks.  She demonstrated a rigidity and was highly inflexible with regards to her schedule and and/or her interests.  This is still true today - and to be honest, I'm still not convinced about the Asperger's Syndrome.
I still had no idea what Grace's condition was, but I did know that I needed to start her on some type of treatment.  I started researching Sensory Integration Therapy.   Here is the definition of Sensory Integration Therapy from MedicineNet.com -  "A form of occupational therapy in which special exercises are used to strengthen the patient's sense of touch (tactile), sense of balance (vestibular), and sense of where the body and its parts are in space (proprioceptive). It appears to be effective for helping patients with movement disorders or severe under- or over-sensitivity to sensory input."  The more I looked into it, the stranger it looked.  It appeared to me to involve a lot of swinging, climbing, and rolling.  In other words it looked like a trip to the park.  However, I located an occupational therapist in Bend who was trained in sensory integration therapy and decided to call her when we returned home from our trip.  That was also the first time I read about the connection between diet and autism and the connection between gluten/casein and autism.  At that time Grace would eat nothing other than Honey Nut Cheerios, and McDonalds chicken nuggets.  I really mean that.  I'm not proud of it.  There was absolutely nothing I could do about it. It was just a nightmare.  
I went to bed that night with my mind full of questions.  What would become of my little Gracie?  Would she grow up and go to college?  Would she be able to get married some day?  Would she be able to make friends in school?  Would she have children one day and be able to know the joy of being a mother?  I think that as a parent we just assume that our children will do all these things.  It is just a given to us that they will and when circumstances change and we are faced with these questions we simply don't know how to respond.  I lay awake for a long time that night before I made my decision.   It would be up to Gracie whether or not she did those things, but not because of her limitations, because of her ability to choose.  It would be up to us to show her the way.