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Is autism diagnosis the end of the world?

Jamesjoseph

Hi all I'm new to the forum, I have a 14 month old son who is displaying a LOT of signs of ASD. I am bouncing between reassuring myself he is a late bloomer (mostly after reassurance from friends and family) and being 100% certain he has (or will at some point be diagnosed with) ASD.

The signs I am seeing are mainly no response to name, not using gestures and almost no initiation of joint attention And very little back and forth babbling and certainly no consistently used words. Now, to me there is little doubt but my family are adamant that I am over-reacting and he is just a normal boy who is taking a little time to develop..they cite things that must mean he doesn't have a problem like hugging, following simple instructions (he certainly does understand much of what we say), he is happy and liked people etc. unfortunately none of these things rule out autism.

this difference of opinion between me and everyone else in mine and wife's family and my wife herself is causing problems. I suffered from health anxiety a couple of years ago, constantly thinking I was gravely ill when in fact I had some minor health issues, resesrching symptoms on the Internet in large part led to this. The upshot of this is I am now the boy who cried wolf. I feel really alone at the moment, I want to get my son help but my wife insists we wait until scheduled appointment with HV in a month.

anyway,to the point of my post! I have read a lot from people with autistic children who seem to just get on with it and accept it. Id like to know that once a diagnosis is received what is a patents life like, I am terrified of what the future has in store for my family. I am constantly worrying and feeling down, I don't feel like I will be able to cope. I think it would help to hear other people's experiences, how did people make the transition from the terror I am now experiencing to living a happy life with their autistic child?

Parents

  • no I'm not aware of anyone in the family who has had any form of autism. As for myself I may have been anxious in social situations particularly as a child but I dont think it would be described as anything more than shyness. I did get cbt for my health anxiety which helped tremendously. It is just my sons behaviour (principally lack of joint attention skills) which have me concerned, perhaps I am overthinking but I do think he has many of the 'red flags' (information gleaned from the Internet so perhaps I am jumping to conclusions).

    however, I think my question has been answered by you, you have autism and have children, this was one of my concerns..that my son might need constant care for the rest of his life, and not lead a 'normal' life ie have a job, live independently and have children of his own one day. i know there are varying levels of severity but if my son is diagnosed at some point then it certainly is not the end of the world. I do have issues with jumping to the worst case scenario so just having someone like yourself basically telling me not to get carried away so soon is a big help..thank you.

Reply

  • no I'm not aware of anyone in the family who has had any form of autism. As for myself I may have been anxious in social situations particularly as a child but I dont think it would be described as anything more than shyness. I did get cbt for my health anxiety which helped tremendously. It is just my sons behaviour (principally lack of joint attention skills) which have me concerned, perhaps I am overthinking but I do think he has many of the 'red flags' (information gleaned from the Internet so perhaps I am jumping to conclusions).

    however, I think my question has been answered by you, you have autism and have children, this was one of my concerns..that my son might need constant care for the rest of his life, and not lead a 'normal' life ie have a job, live independently and have children of his own one day. i know there are varying levels of severity but if my son is diagnosed at some point then it certainly is not the end of the world. I do have issues with jumping to the worst case scenario so just having someone like yourself basically telling me not to get carried away so soon is a big help..thank you.

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