So far.
Autism can catch you by surprise.
Jude was about 1½ when my husband and I started to feel like parental failures. No matter how much we tried to soothe our son he became more and more frustrated. We watched anxiously as he began to thrash his body in frustration, banging his head into anything he could find, desperately trying to ease his jumbled nervous system.
Dolce Amore Studios / Via flickr.com
You may feel like a shitty parent.
I felt like a shitty mom. Because good moms know how to help their children.
Dolce Amore Studios / Via flickr.com
The process of getting a diagnosis is hard.
We were first-time parents and heard a lot of “Boys will be boys!” But the constant turmoil and battling became too much. Our pediatrician listened to our concerns and gave us phone numbers to call to set up assessments and paperwork and more assessments...and more paperwork...and just when you thought it wasn't possible, more paperwork...and more assessments.
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It's OK to grieve.
Our fears were validated when Jude was diagnosed as autistic. As a parent, you want to stack as many odds in your child's favor as possible, and receiving confirmation that Jude was not "typical" stung.
Elle Jaye / Via Facebook: ellejayemakespretty