(NewsNation) — In new book “Born Lucky,” NewsNation chief Washington anchor Leland Vittert discusses how growing up with autism affected his life — and his family’s.
“I’ve never told anyone about this, but it’s time to say thank you to my dad,” Vittert said on Monday’s airing of “On Balance with Leland Vittert.”
Vittert was diagnosed with the condition now called autism when he was a little boy, he first shared in a 2024 Father’s Day essay.
“My dad refused to allow psychologists to diagnose me with anything,” Vittert said Monday. “He knew the world wouldn’t change for me, so he had to change me for the world.”
In the book, which is No. 1 on Amazon’s Best Sellers in Parenting Books on Children with Disabilities list, Vittert shares how his father rearranged their family’s life to develop Vittert’s skills and help him learn how to adapt to the world around him.
“He sold his company, stopped his career and dedicated the next 18 years of his life to helping me,” Vittert said.
Spurred by a desire to help his son prepare for the “real world,” Vittert’s father helped him gain some muscle to deter bullies and learn social cues over dinners.
“He became my best friend for a long time. He was my only friend, my protector, cheerleader and harshest critic,” Vittert said.
The “On Balance” host called the book “the love story of a father” who helped him exceed far beyond any diagnosis.
“Those lessons took me from a kid who could barely talk and didn’t understand basic social interaction, to the White House North Lawn, the battlefields of the Middle East, and now the anchor desk of two networks,” Vittert said.
Putting a story so personal out for the world to see was not easy, but he says the response has proven that it was the right decision.
“Parents need a North Star of hope,” Vittert said. “I am proof love and dedication means your child doesn’t have to be defined by their diagnosis, whatever it is. You can hear my voice crack a few times last night when we announced the book — in some way, if this book gives hope to other parents it will make all those nights and countless hours my dad dedicated to me all the more worth it.”
The book will release on Sept. 30 and is available to preorder now.