Just Diagnosed

Our son Adam was recently diagnosed with Autism Spectrum. This isn't necessarily a daunting situation for us as our older son was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome at around the age of 8. We kind of know the territory but things are a little different this time around--obviously, we're dealing with two very different little people. Our older son isn't so little--he's 22 now. So part of this for me is being an older parent (I'll be 55 next year--Adam will be 3). It's a little overwhelming as I deal with the fears of not being there for Adam as he gets older, tho I hope to be as long as possible. Adam is a beautiful little boy--very gentle and sweet. He has already reached many of the physical and behavioural milestones for his age but struggles with verbal communication. He is a little chatterbox tho much of his verbalization at this point is echoing. Pronunciation is difficult for him. He loves me reading to him and playing simple stacking and sorting games. He also loves music and has started his first little efforts to sing. My wife and I don't go into this with negative expectations--our older son gradutated from high school with a fully-qualifed diploma and attended 2 years of college before training to be a mechanic. We had been told that he would never learn math or English. We don't believe diagnoses as limitations, tho we do accept that there are challenges ahead. It takes alot of work, nurturing and understanding of children with autism as individuals.

Our son Adam was recently diagnosed with Autism Spectrum. This isn't necessarily a daunting situation for us as our older son was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome at around the age of 8. We kind of know the territory but things are a little different this time around--obviously, we're dealing with two very different little people. Our older son isn't so little--he's 22 now. So part of this for me is being an older parent (I'll be 55 next year--Adam will be 3). It's a little overwhelming as I deal with the fears of not being there for Adam as he gets older, tho I hope to be as long as possible. Adam is a beautiful little boy--very gentle and sweet. He has already reached many of the physical and behavioural milestones for his age but struggles with verbal communication. He is a little chatterbox tho much of his verbalization at this point is echoing. Pronunciation is difficult for him. He loves me reading to him and playing simple stacking and sorting games. He also loves music and has started his first little efforts to sing. My wife and I don't go into this with negative expectations--our older son gradutated from high school with a fully-qualifed diploma and attended 2 years of college before training to be a mechanic. We had been told that he would never learn math or English. We don't believe diagnoses as limitations, tho we do accept that there are challenges ahead. It takes alot of work, nurturing and understanding of children with autism as individuals.