This unique study used qualitative research methodology to investigate the first 18 years of parenting experiences of a mother of a child with autism. The purpose of this single case study was to record and understand the effect of autism on a mother's life retrospectively, to identify and analyse issues and themes that have shaped her life, to understand the stages and characteristics of a parent adaptation to a child with autism, and to form implications that could be learned from the participant's experiences. It is written as a narrative which is a form of meaning making that organizes human experiences into temporally meaningful episodes. By using the narrative approach, the authors were able to authentically document the steps of accepting a child's handicapping condition, which is an extremely difficult and often a heart-breaking process. Data was collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Eleven consistent themes emerged from the interview data. One new theme; "falling apart" which was coined by the authors, and two coping strategies; "advocating" and "setting limits", surfaced which were not represented previously in the literature. These new discoveries, the participant's successful instrumental and palliative coping strategies and the implications of having a child with autism on her life are discussed. (Contains 1 table.)