When we moved to Japan and enrolled our sons in local schools, both they and I had a lot to learn. Every day was a challenge, and I was so focused on the basics that I missed a lot of things that should have been obvious. Like the fact that there was a disabled child in my son's kindergarten.

It was a month before I figured that out, on the day of a parent-child picnic. The teachers took the kids off to play, leaving us moms with instructions to get friendly. In Japan, this means an awkward round of jiko shokai (self-introductions). I tried to follow what each mom was saying, or at least pick up a few names, but mostly I was worrying how I'd manage to introduce myself in Japanese. Then, just when the woman next to me was supposed to take her turn, she leaped up and ran away! I watched her go, amazed, wondering if I could make a similar escape. That's when another mom leaned over to explain: "She's chasing after her son. That's him over there, heading straight for the pond. He has jiheisho [autism], you know."

I never did get a chance to talk to Yusuke's mom, who always seemed to have her hands full. Before I knew it, the year was over and my son moved on to elementary school. But I regretted not taking the opportunity to learn from Yusuke about autism, so the other day I called his mother and asked if she'd talk to me.