Dancing with Max

The true story of a single mother’s love and perseverance, her son’s autism diagnosis with its challenges and gifts, and their triumph together over life’s toughest obstacles.

Journey with Emily Colson—daughter of former White House Special Counsel Chuck Colson—as she takes you from her darkest days of pain to her adventure through life. With candor and wit, she shares about her personal battles and heartbreak when, as a suddenly single mother, she discovered that her only child has autism. Emily illuminates the page with vivid imagery—making you laugh, making you cry, and inspiring you to face your own challenges.

This is the story that will inspire you to break free of the barriers that threaten to constrict your life, and Max is the young man who will capture—and even change—your heart. As you learn more about Max and his journey, you’ll learn about:

The incredible power of community
Facing each day with grace and faith
Turning your challenges into blessings

In a special prologue and epilogue from Chuck Colson—his most personal writing since Born Again—he details how Max’s resilient spirit unraveled his thinking and brought out his tender side as a grandfather.

Along the way, you’ll discover that Max’s disability does not so much define who he is, but reveals who we are. Dancing with Max is not a fairy tale with a magical ending. It’s a real-life story of grace, second chances, and fresh starts in spite of life’s hardest problems. And Max? Max will make you fall in love with life all over again, leaving you dancing with joy.

Praise for Dancing with Max:

“Emily shares her moving story, of life’s struggles but of its even greater victories, in her own words. This is a story of triumph, in spite of the suffering and pain. It is most of all a love story, and a story about changed lives—Emily’s, Max’s, and also mine.”

—Chuck Colson, former White House Special Counsel

Author Biography

Emily Colson is the daughter of Chuck Colson. She is an artist and writer. After many years as an art and creative director in the field of advertising and design, she now pours her creative gifts into helping her son, Max, who is diagnosed with autism. She has even pioneered an innovative communication system to assist her son. Emily has been a single mother for most of Max’s 19 years, with hard-fought lessons of life, love, and laughter. Emily and Max live on the coast of New England, where they can often be found dancing. You can visit her at www.emilycolson.com.