In March, Athens resident Ashlee Moore and her husband, Jake, were told that their 2-year-old son, Brodie, was on the autism spectrum.

“The questions and concerns were there. Our concerns were confirmed when we received the diagnosis. When we got the diagnosis, we started thinking back, honestly Brodie was showing signs as early as four months old,” said Moore.

Receiving the diagnosis left Moore in a difficult emotional state.

“I tried to mentally prepare myself. When I was sitting in the doctor’s office and the doctor and the autism director were talking to me, I just broke down. It wasn’t because of what they had told me, but I was sitting there questioning myself, because I wondered if I had done something wrong,” said Moore

The doctor and autism director tried to encourage Moore about the efforts she had made for her son.

“They told me that I had not done anything wrong and I was ahead of the game because I noticed the signs and advocated for Brodie. I didn’t take no for an answer until I got an answer,” said Moore. “For about a week, I wouldn’t talk about it, but I got tired of acting like I was okay.”

Moore began thinking about others who might be going through similar circumstances.

“I decided to do a Facebook Live video. With doing that video and being transparent, going through all the feelings I was having as a mom, I had over 100 moms interact with me about their own experiences,” said Moore.

During a recent business trip to Colorado, Moore heard a speech from Inky Johnson, a football player for The University of Tennessee and motivational speaker. After hearing him speak, Moore came back motivated to do something special.

“After walking out of that conference, I felt like I could drive a Mac Truck through a concrete wall and survive. Inky had me on fire. When I came back home, I told my husband that I was going to start an autism support group for moms,” said Moore.

One response from another mom was particularly encouraging to Moore.

“She said, ‘I have been dealing with every single bit of emotion you’ve been talking about plus some and I haven’t talked about it, because I’ve been trying to be strong.’ At that moment, I was like okay, let’s rock and roll,” said Moore

The group that Moore created is specifically for moms who have autistic children. In the group, moms are able to freely discuss their own personal challenges and struggles with other moms of autistic children.

“It’s called, ‘Resilient Warriors.’ The name came from the idea that parents are warriors and resilient, because at the end of the day with autism, the hardest thing for me is walking in the unknown,” said Moore. “When you are resilient, you find the strength to overcome battles.”

While the Resilient Warriors group is growing, it’s not about the number of members to Moore. It’s about one mom supporting another mom.

“I told my husband from the jump that I didn’t care if it was only one other mom or if it ended up being thousands. The group is doing exactly what I prayed it would do,” said Moore.

Moore had no connection to autism prior to the diagnosis of her son. According to estimates from CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network, about 1 in 36 children has been identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ASD is reported to occur in all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. World autism month just passed in April and the Athens Alabama Pickleball Association held a fundraising tournament in support of Autism awareness. The Limestone County Sheriff’s Office unveiled a cruiser painted to show their support and they reminded the community of their efforts like the seatbelt cover program and Project Lifesaver. With efforts like these, it’s not just one month of support in Limestone County.

Moore feels opening the door to communication can help moms who have autistic children and Stacey Givens the mother of Brooks, who is on the spectrum, and founder of Make-A-Way Foundation agrees.

“It is essential to reach out to people who share your new life, because you will find that you cannot be part of some of the things your peers are a part of. As families of neurotypical children are at baseball games or birthday parties, our children struggle with those events. That becomes very isolating and it’s extremely important for the parent’s mental and emotional health to find other people who are sharing in that struggle,” said Givens.

Givens is also very happy to see Moore stepping up to connect mothers in this way.

“She’s really a warrior for stepping out so early in her journey and having such a big impact. It took me years to look beyond my own situation and find the strength to put something together that was for the greater good, but it is essential that those of us who are walking in these shoes that we help bring awareness, help bring the community together, help expand our community, help others grow in their understanding. If we don’t do it, no one is going to do it,” said Givens.

Moore hasn’t forgotten about the dads.

Having begun the work of Make-A-Way Foundation in 2011, Givens is no stranger to organizing the community for autism efforts. Make-A-Way Foundation has dedicated their efforts toward creating sensory rooms in schools across Limestone County.

“I think it’s wonderful when parents stand for something bigger than themselves,” said Givens. In Ashlee’s case I admire that she wants to bring together families who share these struggles. She needs that right now more than ever. Oftentimes when people are early in their autism journey, they don’t know what they need.”

In her effort to support moms through Resilient Warriors, Moore has not forgotten the dads.

“I hope that there is a dad out there who is strong and courageous enough to create a dad’s support group. I’m a mom, so I don’t know what dads walk through,” said Moore.

For Moore, it’s not only about helping other mothers, but healing herself.

“I heal out loud, so other people don’t have to suffer in silence. That is my biggest thing,” she said. “I’ve had people ask me if I worry about people thinking if I talk too much. I say just share your story, because you never know who it’s going to reach.”