"Days of Our Lives" head writer Dena Higley has decided to give Abe (James Reynolds) and Lexie Carver (Renee Jones) a true-to-life battle to fight. It is a battle Higley knows all too well. Like young Theo Carver, her son Connor was diagnosed as autistic at age 3. It is a real-life struggle that affects one in every 150 children, according to Autism Speaks, America's leading autism advocacy organization.

Lexie is aware that all is not perfect with her son. Abe, on the other hand, refuses to believe the diagnosis. Soap fan Joan Tibaldi, whose grandson is autistic, knows the feeling. "My son wanted to accept every diagnosis but the truth. It did not help that several diagnoses (were) given," she relates. "One day he was said to be autistic; another, he was not. In the end, autism was the correct diagnosis. Charlie is an amazing child. All of us have learned so much from him. Some days are beautiful. Some days not so much, but you could say that on any given day about any of my five grandchildren."

Higley promises the story will be realistic. "We will not need dramatic overdrive to tell this story," she explains. NBC suggested the story line. "We were talking at a story meeting and the idea was tossed out. I told them about my own experience and they said, 'Let's do it.' My son is now 19 and getting ready for college. It was not an easy trip for anyone to get to this point, but the arrival was wonderful. Connor wants people to know that his condition is not easy, but it is possible to lead a complete life." Connor has played track and football, and graduated from high school. "Doing a story like this," Higley admits, can be tough. "There are painful memories and memories of joy."

According to Higley, everyone knows someone who has had to deal with autism. "It may be a family member friend or classmate."

Lexie and Abe will go through what all parents of autistic children go through, and their feelings and reactions will be respected, she says.

"Days of Our Lives" and NBC have partnered with Autism Speaks.

"This storyline realistically portrays the emotional trauma that every family faces when a child is diagnosed with autism, yet it also opens a window for viewers to see the hope and achievements that are possible as a family pulls together," says Alison Singer of Autism Speaks in a press release.

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When Beth Ehlers arrives in Pine Valley next month, she will not be playing Liza Colby. Too bad. What a delicious story it would have been. Let's see: "All My Children's" Adam is in love with Tad's wife, Krystal. Tad would fall in love with Adam's ex-wife Liza. How great would that be? Perhaps Liza will be back, just not played by Ehlers. Ehlers is set to play an American solder stationed in Iraq, a woman from Jake's (Ricky Paull Goldin) past. It reunites the duo who teamed as Harley and Gus on "Guiding Light."

To find out more about Lynda Hirsch, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

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