My Daughter got diagnosed this morning

Thank you I guess that I’m probably a lot less miffed by my daughter’s diagnosis than a non-autistic mum would be but it’s still a big transition to go from ‘no autism’ to ‘I’m autistic and so is my daughter’ (I suspect my eldest daughter has, in old terms, Aspergers, but she is 21 and not seeking diagnosis. I guess I will now get a crash course in bringing up a diagnosed autistic child and all the services that entails!

I see you had your diagnosis last year. Sounds to me your daughter will get a good start and great support. All the best

Thank you my youngest daughter is amazing, she’s like a little mini me! I’ll get my head around her diagnosis in time.

I’m glad that you feel that you’re able to be yourself unbound by social constraints. That must be very liberating! I’m feeling freer since my own diagnosis but I’m still getting there regarding feeling totally free from the shackles of this world. In reality I’m mindful of when I’m fully ‘me’ and when I feel that I need to mask, at work for example. I think our honesty does make us more authentic. 

I think you're amazing!!!!

I'm not autistic but my son who will be 4 soon is and we have been undergoing early intervention for 9 month now and it's a challenge and at the moment he's behaviour has regressed. He only started talking in April and I'm so proud of his and who he will become... He has to work harder then his so call normal peers.. but in the long run he will outshine them and I hope he is an empowering person like you.. 

It's a lot to process so give yourself time. It's okay to feel numb, hope you're feeling better about it soon. I'm proud my son is autistic and wouldn't change him for the world. 

Yeah, you can ease your way into getting yoyr head around it all. As for today, I'd just relax. It's been a hectic few months, they did it all quite quick!

Thank you! It’s what I expected all along. Sometimes it’s better to feel nothing, better than an overload of emotions all at once! I’d rather wait and ‘feel’ something about it when I’m more ready! 

Good to hear that it's all done and dusted now. It's a lot to take on board but I'm glad it was what you were expecting and not anything else. Hope you can take some time over the next few days and relax. Numb is good for the moment, well it would be for me personally, you can move from that place better than anything overly negative, or positive for that matter in my experience.

All my best to you and the family.

She'll be my first.

As an autitsic, I feel I'm able to be exactly who I am whereas if I was NT I'dbel restricted by social norms. For example, my MIL will often say 'I thought x but I couldn't say that', even about small things such as being asked if a room smells. I'm not bound by those constraints, which means people tend to open up with me and want to talk to me as I'm the only person they can have honest and frank conversations with. As such, I believe my relationships are a lot more authentic.

I'm also becoming self-employed after my maternity leave as I found my previous working environment (education) caused sensory overload. On the otherhand, most of my friends have simply returned to part-time to posts they disliked as that fits the social norms and its easy for them to stay in their comfort zone. Instead, I have the push, as well as the mental freedom and lack of fear to be able to say no I'm not happy and to follow my dreams instead.

Thanks! Why do you hope that your little one is autistic? Do you have any other children that are autistic?

I really want to say congratulations! I'm 34 weeks pregnant and am hoping the little one is autistic too but then I'm really happy about my own diagnosis and the way I get to live life.

I tend to feel numb after a big event, such as a diagnostic assessment too. Sounds like a quiet afternoon is perfect for you.

I'm glad that we 'know' now. But it is a lot to deal with. I guess it's good that my diagnosis came first so I have autistic friends to talk with about it and I'm not as freaked out by it as some non-autistic parents can sometimes be. As mentioned above. I'm not feeling anything about it at the moment.

Yes knowledge is power and she will get all the early intervention support which is good. Honestly, I don't know if I'm ok or not! I had planned to do lots of things this afternoon but I might end up hiding out on the forum instead! It is a lot to adjust to my own diagnosis at the end of last year and now my daughter's diagnosis too. I've known that she's autistic from when I was 7 months pregnant with her though! That was my Aspiedar/Autdar working at full force :-)

It's great that you have the information - but it's a lot to deal with.    Hope you feel ok.

Knowledge is power? Hope you're OK. A lot of diagnoses to process all at once I guess.