Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello, I'm new to the forum...I've just got nowhere else to turn. My 9-year-old daughter was diagnosed on Tuesday by CAMHS. To say that I am devastated is an understatement. I feel embarrassed. I have tried over the years to encourage her to go to parties and be social, to take pride in her appearance and play nicely, but she crumbles in social situations, which has been very difficult for us as a family. I do not want her to be an autistic person. I just want my daughter to be like other children...the thought that she is different makes me shudder.
I'm sorry; I was planning to say far more but I just can't.
When you plan a baby this isn't what you expect, is it?
I tried to be balanced and I did actually limit the full expression of my response to the issues raised. In my reply I recognised it's a difficult time and trying to be constructive in suggestions for the future, but also that a kind of blaming attitude ("you *make* me feel") isn't ok and that finding a way to think more positively rather than wishing it were not true is going to be important. Not a good opening sentence, perhaps, but ultimately one I stand by.
I think that perhaps some parents come here in a state of distress and maybe don't anticipate a direct, honest, genuinely held opinion from autistic people. Maybe they assume it's all (NT) parents here who will identify with a perspective of tragedy and loss of dreams.