Hi All
My beautiful, funny, creative, spirited son has recently been diagnosed with autism, after 2.5 years of us reaching out to our GP. He is 6 now.
He is much loved by our little family, but we have gone through a rolllercoaster over the last 3 years. He was a sweet, happy, smiley baby. Around the age of 2.5, we have noticed that he had some developmental challenges. This coincided with the pandemic, which initially let us to think it migjt have been related to lack of social contact during the pandemic. As his challenges grew, we reached out to his GP for help, who referred us to couple of different services. After several appointments with speech and language, educational physiologist , paediatrician and other professionals, and much chasing, we finally had his ASD assessment.
His school has noticed early on some of his differences and challenges, and he has been on the school SEN list for a while now, with an ongoing EHCP application.
So….I should have been prepared for an autism diagnosis, BUT, it still somehow hit me when we actually got told he meets the criteria for a diagnosis.
I am surprised by how I felt emotionally upon being told. I cried all afternoon after the meeting, heartbroken for him, perhaps thinking life will be more challenging for him. It should have been perhaps more of a relief, as now he is more likely to have the support put in place for him at school and that I was right as his mother to recognise his challenges. But I don’t feel the relief. I feel sad and worried for him.
How did you feel at this point? And what did you to start understanding your child better and support them better?
Thank you!
