Hi there,
I've just registered on here because after a seemingly endless process, we have finally been given a diagnosis of (high functioning) autism for our 5 year old son. We also have a daughter who is 7 and perfectly 'normal' (hate that word but can’t think of any other way to describe her!!). Both out children attend a wonderful mainstream primary school and now we have the diagnosis, the statement process for our son is now well under way. We shall shortly receive some stuff from the paediatrician about ongoing care, I hope.
But whilst we are relived that we finally have a paediatrician who 'agrees' with everything we, teachers and other specialists have been saying, it’s still a shock and has caused a rollercoaster of emotion. I am still a bit dazed to be honest!! We've known since he was small that something wasn't quite right, slow to talk, poor social skills and horrendous tantrums. But now we know we are not bad parents!
We know some people with children on the autistic spectrum including a member of our won family. But every child and therefore situations are different. I just wanted to try and touch base with other people who may be in a similar boat.
It’s been a very long process to get here and I know we have many challenges to face as we will have to learn about how to best help our son (and support our daughter) as he grows up.
