New Bedford Mom Opens Up About Autism, ADHD Journey

Sometimes life doesn’t follow the script you thought you were writing. For New Bedford’s Sarah Vieira, that realization became the foundation for something powerful.

Vieira has officially released her deeply personal memoir, This Wasn’t the Plan, a book that pulls back the curtain on motherhood, strength, and the emotional rollercoaster of raising two sons with very different needs.

“It’s literally a memoir of my life,” Vieira said. The book centers around her journey as a mother to Isaac, who has autism, and Lucas, who has ADHD, and how their diagnoses shaped not only her parenting, but her identity and outlook on life.

A Journey No One Prepares You For

Vieira’s story begins with the unexpected. She became pregnant with Isaac at 27 and quickly found herself stepping into motherhood largely on her own. While many would feel overwhelmed by the uncertainty, she was confidently ready and recognized that not everything in life falls into place smoothly.

“I wasn’t scared,” she said. “I felt like, I’m 27, I’m going to be a mom. But I also kind of knew his biological father wasn’t going to be around.” This was her reality.

Everything shifted when Isaac was diagnosed with autism just before his second birthday. Suddenly, Vieira's world filled with therapies, appointments and constant research, all while learning how to best support her son.

“I knew nothing about autism,” she said. “So I just started learning everything I could about him.” Her days quickly became centered around ABA therapy sessions and building a routine that worked for Isaac, even as she figured things out in real time.

When Life Gets Even Harder

Not long after Isaac’s diagnosis, Vieira became pregnant again. While she was already managing the demands of raising a child with autism, her experience after welcoming Lucas brought an entirely new set of challenges.

“With Lucas, I had horrible postpartum depression,” she said. “It affected my relationship with him and my own mental health.” The weight of that experience added another emotional layer, one she admits was difficult to fully process at the time.

As Lucas grew, Vieira began noticing behaviors that felt familiar. Despite being told he was too young for a diagnosis, she trusted her instincts and strived to get the answers she desperately sought.

“I just knew he had ADHD,” she said. “They kept telling me he was too little, but I knew.” Eventually, that diagnosis came, and today, as she puts it, “the whole household is in therapy."

Writing as Therapy, Then Something More

What started as a personal outlet gradually turned into something much bigger. Vieira had always been someone who journaled, documenting Isaac’s journey and her own thoughts along the way, but over time those entries began to take shape as something more structured.

READ MORE: New Bedford Family’s Event Creates Space for Autism Inclusion

“I’ve always been a journaler,” she said. “Then one day it just started turning into pages.” Those pages eventually became chapters, built from nearly a decade of lived experiences that she had been quietly blogging.

“This story has really been 10 years in the making,” she said. She often wrote late at night after her children went to sleep, sometimes handwriting everything first before typing and editing it herself, allowing her to fully process each moment as she revisited it.

A Story Meant to Help Others

Despite how personal the memoir is, Vieira never questioned whether she should share it. For her, the purpose goes beyond telling her story. It’s about reaching others who may feel the same isolation she once did.

“When Isaac first got diagnosed, I didn’t know anybody,” she said. “I had no one to talk to.” That feeling is something she hopes her book can help ease for other parents navigating similar situations.

“If this reaches even one parent who’s going through what I went through, that’s what I want,” she said. That mission carries into her professional life as well, as she now works as an ABA technician at Roosevelt Middle School while pursuing her master’s degree, using her experiences to support other children and families.