Stepping into Strength: A Compassionate Look at a Parent’s Journey with Autism

The majority of us started the process of assisting our autistic children by hearing the experiences of other  Parents Journey With Autism and identifying parallels between our children and our own experiences. After that, we moved on to investigating potential therapies and treatments for autism, including those that could help our autistic children and adults live healthier and more fulfilling lives. The lives of our children become significantly simpler with some of these treatments, some of which can be as straightforward as a change in food and eating habits.

The road to where my son is now has not been an easy one.

It took over ten years for my newborn son to receive an Asperger's diagnosis, even though I could tell right away with a mother's instinct that something was wrong.

I dragged him to general practitioners, neurologists, therapists for speech, occupational, and neurological rehabilitation, osteopaths, and homeopaths for years. I never stopped looking for solutions, treatments, therapy, and consolation. My son was in anguish, and our entire family felt his misery.

Autism affects more than 1 in 100 people, as I now know, but when you receive the diagnosis, you feel incredibly lost and alone. Looking back, those formative years were spent frantically looking for solutions. 

We read everything there was to read about the subject online in an effort to gain insight into our son's thinking. It was difficult to discover information that was helpful, practical, and uplifting rather than frightening or depressing amidst the masses of complex and frequently shady content.

Autism diagnosis and early intervention

For us, receiving an ASD diagnosis was like receiving a huge sigh of relief. I accepted this diagnosis because it gave me a framework and a reason for why my son acted and felt the way he did.

His communication habits, his anxiousness, and his social inadequacies and eccentricities all suddenly made sense to him and to us.

It is crucial that funding be provided for study in the area of autism so that we can not only think about causality but, more significantly, develop successful interventions and treatments.

I'm especially interested in initiatives that aim to make the most of the amazing skills and abilities that many Asperger's people have while also finding ways to inform families, teachers, and employers about ASD.

I want to help other families get the early intervention and continued assistance that would have facilitated our path.

Applied Behavior Analysis and other therapies

We had good fortune. He has benefited from a behavioural treatment administered at home (ABA).

This has been improved through occupational therapy and speech-language pathology. Unfortunately, we discovered that diverse disciplines weren't always eager to collaborate. We persisted, though, and we think the mixture is what has allowed us to enter William's universe. 

He is able to communicate clearly, read and write, perform simple math operations, ride a bike, prepare a simple meal, and engage in yoga. He has also begun to make pals.

Hope, yet long way to go

He nevertheless suffers from his limits and the rigors of daily life, much like many people with autism of his degree. I long for the day when autism will be better understood and our kids will have more chances to live happier healthier lives.

The information that I've gained over the past ten years has given me power. The information opens the door to choices, support, optimism, and change.