My heart broke the other day, actually…it recracked on a fissure that I had spackled over. I was interviewing the mom of a recovered child and she was talking about the day she got the “A Word” diagnosis. She said “It was like hearing my son was dead, but there he was right there in front of me. Just dead on the inside.” It took the wind out of me. It’s been over 2 years since Jake was diagnosed and I’ve buried all the pain down so far…I forgot how devastating that moment is. To this day, I can’t let myself fully go there. With death you can grieve and move on…with Autism, there is no down time. You can’t lose it, because you have to stay strong. You have no choice but to deal (although a padded room may have been in order had I let myself really “feel” it).
But if there is anything I can tell any parent who has recently had their child diagnosed…YOU CAN TREAT AUTISM!!! Not everyone can acheive full recovery…we’re not there yet, but Jake talks a blue streak (sometimes repetitive but, hey…come on!), he has friends, we can go to restaurants again, he sleeps, he doesn’t bang his head or have wild tantrums anymore. It can get better…so much better. I had even forgotten how bad it was until I started doing all these interviews. YOU CAN CHANGE THIS. Find out more, talk to a DAN! Doctor, go to GenerationRescue.com. You can reverse the symptoms…your child is not dead on the inside.
My son who had about 4 words at 3 said to me today, “Mom, when Tristan sleeps over, he’s going to sleep on the Bob the Builder bed and I’m going to sleep on the plain red one, right?” That’s right Jake, that’s right.
Don’t accept autism…fight it. You can get your child back.