Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi, my son was diagnosed last week with the above. He is 3.5 and due to start school next September. Although I've been fighting for this, still feel really sad about it, especially as he has come on so much in the last 6 months! It's a lot to get your head around, felt as if I was told, given a leaflet and shown the door. Wondered if anyone else has had the same diagnosis and how it affected them, their child and especially mainstream school life...thanks for reading, any support would be greatly appreciated :)
When my son was 5 years old, they called us to school. My wife and I went there, the director, his kindergarten teacher, and somebody of the social services were there. They wanted to talk about my son. Oddly they didn't suggest any diagnoses, they just told us they were going to observe him. During that talk they told us also they were a bit annoyed because my son was always 5 to 10 minutes late. I told them that was my fault. I had a train to work, and bringing him in time meant I needed to sit 10 minutes longer waiting for my train. The teacher pleaded that if I would bring him earlier this would make her life easier. I told these people that if there were a law and my son would risk to be expelled, that would be a big motivator to bring him in time, but that her comfort did not outweigh my discomfort. I think that explained a lot. I'm sure they added the phrase 'runs in the family' to his file... Now he's 13, has a bit of a girlfriend, goes swimming and works his muscles. I tell him at least once a week that I'm proud of him, (that I'm happy to have him in my team), I changed jobs so I could drive my older daughter (15 now), and him to music lessons twice a week. But that meeting still sits in my memory with an 'impending doom' stamped on it...
Realising you're autistic, feels a lot like waking up in the Matrix, without Morpheus out there to scoop you up.