From Struggle to Strength: A Father’s Journey with Autism
Harry Psaros shares his personal journey as a father navigating the challenges of raising a child with autism. He discusses his initial challenges in accepting his son Gus's diagnosis and his path to being a dedicated advocate. Harry emphasizes the significance of building a social network for families and being of service: "If you are breathing air, you should be helping others." He also shares his 2% rule, which promotes a clear focus for each day to support incremental improvement and reduce overwhelm.
From Struggle to Strength: A Father’s Journey with Autism
All Autism Talk
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Richie Ploesch
Thanks so much for joining us. It's a pleasure to have you.
Harry Psaros
Sounds good.
Harry
Thanks for having me here, it's a true honor.
Richie
So I had a chance to read your book. Thank you for that. It was a delight to read. But before we get into that, I wanted to get to know a little bit about you and your family. So can you tell us a little bit about how you navigated the diagnosis of autism for your son, Gus?
Harry
Sure, sure. So again, my name is Harry Psaros. You know, my book is called From Struggle to Strength, The Father's Journey with Autism and the Power of Hope and Positivity. So my my I'm lucky where I my wife is a nurse. She has those intuitive instincts, you know, she's a school nurse. I have two sons, both Gus and Max were Greeks and live here close to the Pittsburgh airport, but we grew up in, my wife and I grew up in Weirton, West Virginia, steel town about 30 miles from here. And, you know, I talk about it in my book, you know, know what you know in life.
So when you have your first born, you have nothing to compare it to. And I was diligently working, I'm an executive neuroscience specialist for, for ADV. But at the time I was out in the field a lot and my wife was able to basically compare our son Gus compared to a lot of his peers and she start noticing abnormalities. He barely spoke until he was four. When he did speak it was echolalic in nature so he would be repeating things like a parrot. Disinterested.
Richie
Mm-hmm.
Harry
in looking at us in the eye, wouldn't often respond to his name. I think anyone listening is probably nodding their head, seeing those signs. And Michelle intuitively, my wife, who's a warrior mom, start talking about these abnormalities. And I thought, well, hey, I'm the type of guy, and I talk about it in my book, I could have fun at an insurance seminar. You take me to a monastery and we're doing shots of bourbon. You know what I mean? And I never could intuitively
Richie
Yeah.
Harry
- picture my son having an issue socially. So one day she did bring up autism. And I was angry, I was bitter. And I said, how could you do this to label our son? said, you know, maybe he's just introverted. And, I kind of attacked the whole premise. And then Michelle would go to the pediatrician's office. And I don't want to say she was mocked, but it was practically that they would say, listen, he's a boy, boys will be boys, they all develop differently.
Richie
Yeah.
Harry
And then what happened one day, she sat in Oprah Winfrey back in the day did the first definitive, infomercial for lack of better term on autism. And she, her brain really starts stirring. And she said, I think this is what he has. And the straw that broke the camel's back. He went to a birthday party at preschool at a pizza place and all of his other peers were huddled around the cake all interacting Gus walked in and was obsessed with the spinning fan, which is obviously a common trait with, a child on the spectrum. And he was stimming so hard. kind of was bongo drumming everywhere. All of the other kids were present at the party. Gus wasn't, he was in his own world. And, our, our, our preschool teacher. And I talk about her, Ms. Josie, who's a hero in the story, really grab Michelle and said, Hey, I love you. And I love Harry.
Richie
Hmm.
Harry
but I really think Gus is on the autism spectrum. And when she came home, she was broken, broken. And I kind of had my first epiphany, you know what, maybe she's right. And we really, really lucked out, Richie, in that we had a family member that worked at the Cleveland Clinic Autism Center. So what are the chances of this? So instead of having to wait a full year, we were able to get in within two weeks.
Richie
something something's up yeah
Harry
And when we received the diagnosis, I realized as a father, how blind, how belligerent that I was. And I, my wife first and foremost deserved an apology. And as I talk about it in my book, there's a two hour drive from Cleveland to Pittsburgh. The first hour I went through every emotion you can imagine as a father.
Richie
Yeah.
Harry
You're upset, you're frustrated, know, you're stoic. You're trying to figure it all out. Second hour is when my martial arts DNA kicked in my boxing DNA kicked in and I got into a hyper adrenalized state and I thought, not my son. I'm going to fight for my son, but it's all going to start with apologizing to my wife, Michelle, make sure we're on the same page and we're going to work in unison. And, that's what we've done ever since. that's-
Richie
Yeah
Harry
-really the premise of my book. wanted a in your face wake up call for and anyone listening to this may not know my background, but I'm on the board of directors for the autism caring center here in Pittsburgh. I founded an organization called North Fayette pals. It's for providing acceptance, love and care. It's for special needs children. I've done an inordinate amount of speaking fundraising. So I have exposure to these fathers. I've had to sit down with many of them.
And I wanted this book to be just a wake up call for those fathers to make sure they get on board with their wives or spouses and work towards helping their children.
Richie
Yeah, you know it was so interesting as I was reading it. I was thinking about the dad perspective right in fathers in particular, but also you mentioned the relationship between you and your wife. The relationship between your two sons like how was that navigating that whole roller coaster for each of that? I mean like you know how are the how are the two boys getting along now that they're grown up? How are how did you and your wife navigate that time?
Harry
So it's a great question because the family dynamic is important. So let me start there. My wife and I, thankfully, once I came out of that belligerent abyss, we're on the same page. And I use the analogy in my book, My Wife and I Kayak, and put us on an individual kayak, we're great. We decided a few years ago to do tandem kayaking. I would go left, she would go right, we're rowing together. Tons of obscenities are getting thrown out.
Richie
totally different.
Richie
Yeah, water splashing everywhere.
Harry
But what happened at the end, we start rowing in unison and that kayak took off. And I talk about that analogy because when you're rowing in this, when you're rowing in unison, you start working towards helping your children. But what we try to do, a child on the spectrum can by default require extra care. What we've always tried to do with our two sons, and just so everyone understands right now, Gus is 21, my youngest son Max is 18.
Place football for Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania Gus attends Kent State University as a junior, but they were a few years apart But what we would try to do is spend an equal amount of time focus on on both and Where I've been and I will tell you they're both very different. I call Gus my happy hippie Gus is this beaming ray of light positivity. He's taught us more than we've ever taught him Max is this-
He's a tough kid. He's five, nine, five, nine and a half, 195 pounds of muscle, a jock, a tough guy. But the beauty was they work together synergistically. And we made sure I had them. What I would tell you, you know, I had my, my children out all the time in particular for Gus on the spectrum. My thought was if we're out and he's interacting with anyone, whether it's a child and adult, it's still interaction. And I think raising them that way.
Richie
Yeah.
Harry
-spending equal amount of time with them, getting them out together, really helped build that rapport. And the note is in my book, but when Gus graduated from high school, I graduated here from West Allegheny High School in Imperial, Pennsylvania, they ask family members and parents to write a note to the children. And we didn't expect much from Max, he's my jock, and he did it in 15 minutes.
His note made us cry multiple times because he said, you know, I've learned so much from you. Everyone gravitates towards your positivity. You've taught me this and you should never change as a person. In fact, it took my wife like three attempts to read the letter to get through. And I, I share a bit of that in the book. So I think that, that, that unity, that brotherhood. And I talk about this too. Max played a pivotal role. If you see my son now, he has the chains on all blinged out. They were both home last weekend.
And, he looks like a rapper, but he's a football player, but Gus look would have social challenges. He might come down in an outfit that didn't match. He might put a social media post. doesn't make sense. Max would be the one to go. We're going to change up your swag today. We're going to change that, that post. So he really played a key role in Gus's maturation, or he would observe. they went to the same high school. If he felt that Gus.
You know, could have interacted better with someone or responded better. He would correct him and look at times that correction did lead to arguments, but that's where I would sit down and go, your brother loves you. He's just trying to help you out. I understand you're a little frustrated at times, but this is what we're trying to do. You know, so I, we, you know, I don't want to say we perfected it. never perfected, you know, and Gus is still a work in progress. Our family unit still a work in progress, but-
Richie
Yeah.
Harry
Overall, my wife and I really have worked in unison and tried to unearth every modality we could to help Gus. And I really am proud of my sons in terms of their bond, how they've helped each other and what they've taught each other.
Richie
It's so interesting. I keep thinking of like peer pressure and people label peer pressure as a bad thing and but peer pressure can also be a good thing and it sounds like he had a really positive influence on him, not just from who he is, but also how he interacts with those around him. And I think that's important, right? You learn from those around you and super.
Harry
Exactly. Exactly. And you know, I will tell you, we lucked out, know, Gus, like any child on the spectrum or young adult now, still struggles to maintain those relationships. And we had a neighborhood of about 12 kids and many of them were jocks. We have some D-1 soccer players, football players. But they all kind of bonded.
And we were fortunate to have a lot of a great unit around Gus, a great bonds, great friendships. so beyond even our son, they would all look out for Gus. There was a true friendship there. When he graduated, we had a huge graduation party at the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden for Gus. I had the photo of all eight that grew up together in the neighborhood and they were all buddies, know, they'd all played basketball in the front and
you know, they were part of that too. And I talk about, you know, just very fundamental things in my book, but building your village is very important. And I am Greek. I'm Greek Orthodox. So if anybody has seen my big fat Greek wedding, your, family wasn't a problem. I had, I had hoards of that. were surrounded. My parents were superhuman with their support, but what I really loved was, you know, I talk about Gus's best friend, Jacob up the street. We had those eight, we had the other kids involved in.
you know, all of them in a way piece by piece were very helpful in helping Gus to where he is today. But when he, you know, he went from two years as junior and senior year where we decided to finally just let him be a young adult, let it, let it go. Cause until then it was doctor's offices, therapy, different modalities. And you know, he, he graduated with a three point HEPA from high school. He had a group of friends he drove.
Now, when he got to Kent State, it was a reminder that this is a marathon and not a sprint. All those issues, struggling to meet people, things like that, all happened again, you know? And he still does, he still struggles. And that's where you have to be there to help your child and help them through those. And we're fortunate to be at a school at Kent State, it's one of the top 20 in the nation in terms of services for young adults on the spectrum.
Richie
Yeah. Yeah.
Harry
I don't want to make it sound like it's been a cakewalk. I mean, we ran into a lot of issues in college, but he just made Dean's List last semester and we're very proud of him.
Richie
That's amazing. I know you're definitely the thing I took from what you're saying now and from your book is that it has been a roller coaster for you, for your whole family and for those around you. But I think one thing I just want to pull out is that you have really built a social network both for yourself and for your boys and you know yourself, your wife, your family, all inclusive, right? And I think that's been super critical for you. Maybe can you touch on that? Some of the things you've done to you, you mentioned a couple, but Are there other ways you can build a social network or that families can help build a social network for themselves and for their child?
Harry
I love this question and I want families, right, someone's gonna listen to us today, tomorrow, whenever this airs, and they have a newly diagnosed child. And first thing I think you really wanna do beyond unifying with your spouse, just having a very precise battle plan, is building that village. You will need support. And if...
Richie
Yeah.
Harry
I'm fortunate where I had my parents nearby, my family nearby, my brother would be beating down the phone every other day to check on us. We had great neighbors that were there for us. But beyond that, I mentioned the organization we founded, Pals. There was a group of families that came together. At the time when the diagnosis came down, to say we were on an island is an understatement. I mentioned before, I'm in a neighborhood with a lot of jocks and they're all my sons now.
They've all grown up under me, but you know, they were at the ball field. They were out training. They were doing other things where my son was at therapy and Michelle and I really felt like we were on an island. So starting the organization, you had a multitude of parents that had different experiences that were battle tested. And all of a sudden we found each other and you found mutual connections. People going through the same battle you were going through with autism.
Richie
Yeah.
Harry
And if there was a meltdown, if we had an activity, nobody cared because everybody knew what to do. So what I would suggest to any parent, start, start with your house, build it out to your family and friends. And, and I've talked to many people like this that maybe are on their own. They just don't have a big unit of family around them. Find an organization around you. And if there's no organization, I want them to hear me very closely. Start one, start one.
Richie
Make one.
Harry
And I, there's a quote in my book and I tell my boys this all the time and the game of life, you either sit on the bench or you play in the game and people that play in the game make the biggest impact. So I would highly encourage you one in 36 right now are being diagnosed. So if you feel like you're on an Island and you don't have family around you you're new to, let's say you're new to a city, get on Facebook, find the local organization, join them and start building that village up today.
Richie
Yeah, yeah, I think that's so critical for families, especially early on as your, know, I think you you and your family leaned heavily on that network and built a network. So I think that's so great for people to hear and to do. want I want to switch. I have a couple of questions for you about some specific chapters in your book if you don't mind. Couple I really want to highlight one you bring up this 2 % rule. Can you explain to us kind of your 2 % rule and what that means for you?
Harry
Absolutely.
Harry
It's amazing. You know, this book has resonated and I want to state up front, I this book is under 150 pages for a reason. Because I knew that if you handed a belligerent father, Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit, or War and Peace, he's chucking it out the window. I wanted this to be a nice one to two day read for a father. The 2 % rule. So I am I am a third degree black belt in Tung Tzu Do.
I've trained and taught combatives. I've trained in Aikido and Muay Thai. So I bring a martial arts fighting background. the reason there's, and this applies to the 2 % rule, there's boxing gloves. I went into every day thinking that I was in a match. And every day I wanted to help my son. In the day that I didn't or wanted to take a break was comparable to me dropping my guard in the ring and getting knocked out.
So I brought that vigilance every day. But when it's so difficult when you have a child on the spectrum, you have sensory issues. There may be an issue with texture, with food, there are social issues. So you're getting pounded. And I've been there. So I decided one day, you know what, I'm gonna wake up every day and work on one thing and make my son better. Now, if I do more that day, that's great.
Richie
Yep.
Harry
So it could be, we're gonna go beyond the beige diet today. We're gonna try some textured food, or I'm gonna watch him interact with peers and we're gonna work on him greeting people. But what I made sure was every day he was 2 % better at something. So my 2 % rule is essentially atomic habits on steroids. And what it did, it was Occam's razor, it kind of cut through the clutter of being bogged down with, we have to do this, we have to do this.
So like I said, if we emerged at the end of the day and I was able to help him with a multitude of different items, great. But I went in every day with a battle plan. I would say this is what we're doing today, whether it be dressing or anything else.
Richie
That's such a great, I think sometimes we overwhelm ourselves, right? We think, man, we've got to work on 50 things and we've got to spend, you know, 23 hours today working on all these different things. the reality is, if you just did a little bit every day, the cumulative effect is massive, right? And then you're not burned out. Your family's not burned out.
Harry
That's it. Little wins lead to mass. Little wins every day lead to that significant improvement. And the day it happened, had, look, and everybody can relate to this, have therapists in the morning, their supervisors might come in at lunch hour, then they would come in the afternoon. And the one day they were talking about, we need to do this socially. We need to do this with food. And I sat there and I wanted to cry because it was so overwhelming.
That's when I decided, I just woke up and thought, look, when I'm in Tung Tzu Do and I'm learning how to throw a punch, and I talk about this in my book, a white belt just throws their arm out basically and thinks that's a punch. Then you slowly learn, no, you know what, I need to get my hips into it. Then you get to the black belt level and you realize it starts at the roots, your feet. So it's a kinetic chain that goes up and you triple your power. And I thought, well, you know what?
I'm learning all these incremental improvements in karate. And by the way, I don't care what level you're at. If you're a true martial artist, you're humble. You're never perfect. So, you know, so I thought, let me apply this to my son. And I found that it really, really worked. And I would encourage anyone to think about that 2 % rule. Don't get bogged down. Pick the one thing. And if you come out that day and three things improved, good for you. It's icing on the cake.
Richie
Great extra credit. Yeah, yeah. The other thing that stood out to me or not the other thing. Another thing that stood out to me is that the concept of site versus vision that you kind of outlined and I think that's I think that's super critical for people. Can you just share with us again kind of the difference between the two?
Harry
Right. exactly. So you have to, when you have a child on the spectrum, I believe this firmly, you have to have sight and you have to have vision. And let me define the two. Sight is what we just talked about, the grind, the everyday, the being present, the 2 % rule. What am I doing today to improve my child? The vision piece is the long-term piece. And this can change. And I write about it in my book. Up until my son's maybe sophomore year in high school, we really didn't know if college was in store for him.
We thought about a trade school, something he might be able to do.
Richie
Yeah.
Harry
So when he was done with the three semesters and we saw him flourishing academically, our vision changed. We went from thinking about a blue collar or trade at that time. And then we were able to look and say, you know what, he's getting a three, five and above. We think academically and socially be able to handle college. And that proved right. And I'm very cognizant by the way, cause my son is mild. You have children that are moderate or severe.
And in those cases, you have to start thinking about life planning. What are we putting in place to make sure they're taken care of when maybe we're not there? So again, I think it's imperative the patient, excuse me, the parents think about that. You have to have both sight and you have to have both vision.
Richie
You explained a little bit how that changed for you up to up until his sophomore year of high school, right? And you were kind of navigating that. What are some ways that that families can be thinking about that for children who are younger or they haven't they haven't they're not in high school yet? What what are some things they should keep in mind?
Harry
You know, I think what's important, and I know it's tough to say this, know, in particular with the vision piece, you have to assess your child's skillset. So I just mentioned that, you know, and I try, I speak to a lot of audiences that wanna learn about autism, and I tell them, my son is 21, attending college. That same 21-year-old, if they're severe, could be in diapers.
And I hate to say that that's a harsh reality. So I think it's a constant and honest, that's a word I want to throw out, a constant and honest assessment of where they're at potentially compared to their peers. Now, I want parents to understand, I don't mean that to be mean, I'm not. You just have to have a realistic idea of where they're at. And it will really assess where they can go in the future and what moves you can make.
Richie
Right.
Harry
The one thing I will tell you, people may hear, well, his kid's in college. know, it's easy to sit there and brag, no, no, have got, not only, you know, do I look at process improvement, he was home for a long break at Christmas and we flew down to a physician. So he's 21 in college and I'm still looking for improvement. So what we did-
Richie
Still looking.
Harry
was assessed minute by minute, where is Gus compared to his peers? Can he, our goal was college. So the point being, have an idea where you think good looks like for your child. And that's going to vary depending on where they're at on the spectrum. And then fight like hell, regardless of what modality you're trying to find. And I will tell you, things have drastically improved. know, can we clean the diet? You know, what supplementation can we give them to help them? You know, So my vigilance is still there.
Richie
Right.
Harry
because they still feel that we can improve. So have a true and honest assessment of where they're at, where their gap could be with peers and look for those modalities on a continuous basis. And if none work, none work, but I would rather you try and strike out than not try at all. I talk about it in my book. During COVID, read a, again, I don't wanna get sued, but I read a New York Times bestseller with a controversial title about autism.
And I read it twice and said, this is it. We got to try this. We got established with a physician out of the West Coast. And after spending an inordinate amount of money and my son gaining 20 pounds on the SSRIs that were recommended, it went nowhere. But at the end of the day, I felt that I didn't do a disservice to my son because we tried. We swung, missed, but we tried. But the point being always stayed vigilant.
Richie
Right.
Harry
to try to help your child and I'm cognizant too, unfortunately, some of these modalities can be awfully pricey. So within your means to do what you can to help the child.
Richie
I'm curious, you mentioned you've presented to a variety of folks all across the country, a whole different, you know, whole different dynamics and different people. Why do you think it is that the fathers have that you've seen have had a resistance to a diagnosis? Why do you think that is?
Harry
I have, you know, I talk about scientific studies all the time, you know, and you look at your end, the amount of people that are involved in the trials. My end with fathers is quite high. It goes back to 2014 when I had my epiphany, when I was speaking at the Autism Notebook Conference here in Pittsburgh, and I had a dozen crying mothers, literally crying, sobbing, come up and go, we need your help. That was day one for me to gather, and I'm...
If you can't tell by now I'm type A. So I said, bring it on. I want their numbers and I sat and talked with them. I split fathers into two categories and one is the macho dad. It's ego. It's machismo. I'm a man. How could I have sired a child that has developmental issues and they can be very, very difficult to get through to. Although I have the second father.
Richie
Yeah
Harry
Men want to fix things. It's in our DNA. Innately, we just, if your child's outside on a bike and they fall, what do you do? You clean it, put the bandaid on and you're done. An autism diagnosis is a weighty diagnosis. So what happens with some fathers, they get the diagnosis and they're stoic, they're quiet, they're pent up because they're sitting there trying to think of how do I help my child? I don't even know where to start. They're bogged down.
Richie
Yep.
Harry
They're actually on board, but the perception of their wives is, he's not here to help me. And you have to really cut through that dark fog. I have done both with both sets of fathers. The first being a little more belligerent. I will tell you that because, I have, actually spoke to one father who had a severely nonverbal autistic.
Richie
Yeah.
Harry
Child that was I think middle school age that was still in diapers and he literally would not accept the diagnosis and I had to get I I got pretty loud with him and rough until I finally where he was able to break him but And he wanted to sit down and I thought if you're asking me out for coffee I'm gonna be blunt and I had to give him a harsh wake-up call But I think the father's fall into those two buckets and I will say this I mean I hate to say this there are a-
Richie
Yeah.
Harry
-very, very small percentage that I consider cowards that just leave the scene. And the mother is left having to raise the child. And fortunately, because I spoke with you those two. But I will tell you, those are the people I had in mind with my book. And, you know, and that's the reason I wanted to be a quick, easy read. think the there's a line in my book that I stole from one of the mothers.
she said, when your book is done, because I told her the premise, her husband was very belligerent, he kind of fell into the first category. And she said, I'm going to tell him, listen, jackass, you're going to read this book. And I start cracking up. And I said, I'm using that line in the book, you know, and that's what it takes. And I will tell you, the I can't tell you how blessed I am. I almost get, I get emotional thinking of it. The my book now is an Amazon bestseller. It's gone both-national, international, we're converting it into four different languages at the moment.
I was in the USA today, last Friday, I'm hearing from parents, but in particular fathers all the time now. And my favorite one, I've received, it's just been such a blessing. But my favorite one, and I called him the Grinch, I said, he reached, he said, I was so bogged down by the diagnosis that I was mad at the world.
He said, I was mad at the world. He told me, he goes, I was mad at God. I didn't understand what was going on. And my wife felt that I was completely disconnected. And he goes, I read your book. for, anyone that picks up my book, the themes in this are positivity, hope, grit, and resilience. He said, I woke up. He goes, I read it. I woke up with an epiphany. And I went downstairs and I looked at my wife and I said, how can I help today? And he said, her jaw dropped.
And I just got chills hearing that because that's the whole purpose is I just wanted to break through to both those fathers to go just jump on board, jump in, start working with your wife, accept the diagnosis. And if you accept the diagnosis, it leads to improvement. And I understand spectrum is broad. Improvement is going to look different for some children compared to my son. But you know, that's the point. And the other thing I throw out
And I talk about this a lot. I'm doing a lot of keynote speaking now. Um, a lot, I'd get a lot of requests as well. You know, God doesn't make a mistake. He really, really doesn't make a mistake. And if, if you think about it, it's almost a blessing. God saw something within you. If you're a father and your wife, he saw an inner strength and said, I'm going to give this child to that couple because I know they have it to raise them.
So I always remind them of that too. There are no mistakes made. your path has been laid in front of you. You should consider it an honor, not some sort of a stigma or scarlet letter, accept the diagnosis, attack the diagnosis. I go to Sun Tzu, know thy enemy. So when I was coming on the way home, I quote Bruce Lee and Sun Tzu quite a bit in my book. And I said, know thy enemy. I saw autism as my enemy, not my son, but the autism. And I said, I'm going to attack it.
Harry
and help this child every step of the way.
Richie
Harry, what's one thing you hope that, like, if you fast forward five years, what's one thing you hope comes out of you writing your book and comes out of your public speaking and the engagement you had with the autistic community?
Harry
I get, here's what I hope. Anybody listen, and if you see me choking up, anybody listening to this, I'm a passionate guy. I'm Greek. I come from the same DNA as King Leonidas. We have something called philotimo, I talk about in my book. It's worth anybody Googling. Philotimo is known as the Greek secret. It's the, and there really is no definition, but I will give you a definition. It's good for the sake of doing good, asking nothing in return.
knowing that there's a ripple effect in the universe. My book is my act of filo-timo. Now what my ask and what I hope happens, you said five years from now, is I'm hoping I have legions of parents, in particular fathers, that read my book, get motivated, and help their children, but do one other thing, and this is the filo-timo piece, help people around them. I am someone that doesn't sit on the couch. I am about action. If you haven't...
If you can't tell by now, what I really, really want is an active feel optimal from every person that reads my book that says, know what? We're, we're handling this pretty well and our child's improving, but you know, Bob and Sally down the street just had a newly diagnosed child. I'm going to go help them. Don't I'm going to, I'm going to say it again in the game of life. Don't sit on the bench playing the game, help others. So.
Richie
You
Richie
Pay it forward, yeah.
Harry
I have a friend, have a, I need to patent it at this point. Everybody's mentioned it. I need to get a shirt, but if you're breathing air, you should be helping others. I'm going to say it again. If you're breathing air, you should be helping others. So I am asking anybody that reads this book, if you get an epiphany, if you get excited, if you're motivated, transfer that energy, not just to your child and your family, but go help others because every day there's a new family being diagnosed and they're in that fog.
and they need a voice. And it doesn't have to be my voice, it could be your voice. So that would be my hope five years from now is I caused a ripple effect that did a heck of a lot of good.
Richie
Heck of a lot of good. Harry, where can we find your book and more about you and the work that you're doing?
Harry
Sure, so I'm going to be revamping my website, but it's out there. It's Harrypsaros.com - my book from struggle to strength, the father's journey with autism and the power of hope and positivity. Look for the gold boxing gloves is now available on Amazon, Kindle and audible. And boy, that was an interesting reading from a teleprompter for hours on end. I had to take some migraine medication.
So again, Audible, Amazon, Kindle, and we are converting the book into Spanish, Greek, French, and German. And that is in the process of happening right now. So like I said, like I said, I'm gonna be revamping the site. I've had a lot of opportunities this year, people wanting me to come speak. If you could find me on Facebook, Harry Psaros, you could find me at Instagram, Harry Psaros- please reach out. I'm easy. Every person that has either emailed me or DM'd me, I've returned the DM with. If you're in locally, I'll have cup of coffee with you. I'm here to help people. So I'm not hiding anywhere, like I said, and my goal is to help as many people as possible, whether it's long distance or face-to-face.
Richie
Harry, thanks so much for the work you're doing. Thanks so much for writing the book and for sharing it with so many people. We appreciate you.
Harry
It's been an honor to be here. Thank you so much.
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