Mary Byrnes, Founder and Executive Director of Harrison's Hope, has published Everything Clicks, a personal account of raising a son with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and of the realisations that changed how she understood her own life.
-- STOUFFVILLE, Ontario, October 2026 — Mary Byrnes, Founder and Executive Director of the Canadian charity Harrison's Hope, has published Everything Clicks: A Story of FASD, Motherhood, and the Life I Didn't Know I Was Living, a book written for the parents, caregivers and professionals who support people living with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).
The book draws on Byrnes's experience as an adoptive mother. She and her husband adopted their son as a newborn, and even with her background in special education, the family went through several misdiagnoses before arriving at the correct one: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). In learning how best to support him, Byrnes immersed herself in education about the disability, and that work led her to create Harrison's Hope.
"To better support my son's recent diagnosis and to learn how to advocate for him lit a fire in me," Byrnes said. "It instantly became my life passion to improve the outcomes for all families living with FASD."
The Moments That Gave the Book Its TitleThe title comes from what Byrnes calls a series of "aha moments". As she studied FASD through online coaching sessions and recorded materials, the examples the coaches gave matched not only her son's experience but her own. Those recognitions kept repeating, and together with conversations with her mother, they led her to seek and receive her own diagnosis.
In her words, the book reflects "a culmination of many ah ha moments of connecting the similarities of my own life experiences with everything I was learning about FASD".
Talking Openly About a Taboo SubjectByrnes chose to tell the story in a deeply personal way because, she says, stigma is one of the heaviest burdens carried by people with FASD and by the families who love them.
"The best way to reduce stigma is to talk openly & honestly about taboo topics, like FASD and sharing my story may just help one family better understand & support their child- then the book has done its job," she said. "Ideally, I hope it leads to more open & honest conversations about FASD, with others, everywhere."
She describes FASD caregiving as the most complex caregiving a family can take on, but insists that it is not a story without hope. With the right supports and the right accommodations, she says, families do not just survive; they thrive.
Square Pegs in a World of Round HolesFor readers who know little about FASD, Byrnes uses an image she returns to often: imagine society as a world full of round holes, and persons living with FASD are the square pegs that do not fit -at school, at work or in the community.
"That leads to a lifetime of exhaustion, unaddressed traumas, and severe mental health issues for both the individual & their caregivers," she said. "We need everyone's compassion, empathy & support to not only survive but to thrive. Just because you cannot see our disability, doesn't mean it doesn't exist."
She compares the response she hopes for with the way communities already respond to Alzheimer's disease: when a person with Alzheimer's behaves outside social norms because of their brain-based illness, family, friends and the broader community understand that it is the illness, not a choice. Byrnes wants people living with FASD and other neurodiverse disabilities to receive the same empathy and compassion.
What She Hopes Readers Take AwayEverything Clicks is written for parents and caregivers of a loved one living with FASD, diagnosed or suspected, and for the professionals who work alongside them in social work, education, foster care, kinship care and adoption, mental health and healthcare.
The message Byrnes hopes they carry with them is a simple one: that behaviours are often the communication of an unmet need, and a symptom of a disability that cannot be seen rather than a reflection of the person. Her advice to readers is to be inquisitive, be kind, connect and be willing to include.
About Mary ByrnesMary Byrnes is the Founder and Executive Director of Harrison's Hope and the author of Everything Clicks: A Story of FASD, Motherhood, and the Life I Didn't Know I Was Living, available on Amazon. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
About Harrison's HopeHarrison's Hope is a Canadian registered charity that offers resources, education, advocacy and support around FASD for individuals, their families and their caregivers. For more information visit harrisonshope.ca or follow Harrison's Hope on LinkedIn.
Contact Info:
Name: Mary Byrnes
Email: Send Email
Organization: Harrison's Hope
Website: https://harrisonshope.ca/
Release ID: 89207692
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