Billy’s Journey
Episode #61:
Billy’s Journey with George Gelagotis
Interviewing George yesterday stirred up so much that felt deeply familiar — the assessments, the diagnosis, the overwhelm, the guilt, and that relentless feeling that there has to be a way forward.
As a man, society often expects you to be strong, capable, and never show cracks. What I witnessed instead was a father still healing 12 years on. A man with a fierce, unwavering protectiveness over his son and his family.
If your husband needs more support than he’s receiving — or simply needs to hear from someone who truly gets it — send him this episode. It may be the conversation he didn’t know he needed.
George and his wife, Lisa are parents to Mia, 16 years old and twins Billy and Victoria both 14 years old. George’s son, Billy was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at the age of 2.
Both George and Lisa felt completely lost and alone after the diagnosis, struggling to navigate how to move forward. As with most parents, George and Lisa applied numerous strategies to see what would work and move the need the most for Billy.
George’s engineering background allowed him to focus on pouring all of his energy into researching for answers , solutions and anything that would help them on this unplanned journey.
What we spoke about in this episode:
▶️ What it was like for George and his wife, Lisa at the beginning
▶️ The strategies they used to help Billy thrive
▶️ How they kept their marriage strong through the years
▶️ What George’s biggest challenge was
▶️ What he would tell a parent that’s just received the diagnosis
