Autism and Acceptance

             My son C showed significant delay in his development as early as 10 months of age. At that age, he manifested loss of previously learned skills like glancing when his name is called, waving bye-bye and a few other baby skills. Until he turned two years old with unintelligible speech and extremely hyperactive. Not long after, we brought him to a developmental pediatrician who after an hour or so of evaluation, confirmed that he has autism spectrum disorder (for autism tell tale signs, go to Autism Tell Tale ). That sad day occurred eight years ago. My son is now ten years old. But whenever I recall that day in our life, my eyes still become teary. I still can feel that lump in my throat.  That doesn't mean I still have not learned to accept the fact that my son is on the spectrum. I have long accepted that. I guess parents would never stop feeling hurt when their child is affected with life long disorder or any condition that will have tremendous effects on the quality of life.

           
             From day one after knowing my son's condition, I went to check on the therapy center which the doctor recommended. Since time is a precious element in a child with autism, I took the soonest open schedule so my son could start occupational therapy. It has been studied that when interventions like occupational, behavioral, and speech therapy were instituted at an early age, the higher the chances would be for a favorable outcome. And so began our family's autism journey. Every aspect of our life changed- from finances to work schedules.
             When something beyond our control happens in our lives - death in the family, failures and frustrations- life's golden rule would say to learn to accept so we could move on and start anew. Easier said than done, since acceptance is a process. With regards to my son, what helped us as his parents to accept the sad fact that he has a neurodevelopmental disorder is our deep love for him. We held on to that love. We have to be strong enough and face our life's situation. We focused on one objective- we must do something to help him. Through the years, we have learned to modify our expectations about our son and his condition. If he is unable to do this or that, it's okay. We learned to be happy with even his littlest achievement.
              As for parents who just learned that their child has autism, hold on to that love you have for your child. With love, acceptance will come gradually. Once we have learned to accept, strength and optimism follow. We need that to carry on with life as "special parents".




Photo Credit:
   Mother & Son by David Castillo