Good News: Autism is Okay
Autism has been a part of our lives almost from the beginning of our married life. Amanda and I were married in 2000, our son was born in 2001, and he was diagnosed with autism in 2003. Our daughter was diagnosed with autism soon after.
We have had many people feel sorry for us and we have been objects of pity. People hear autism and think that life must be terrible.
I will admit that autism has brought its fair share of challenges. There were many times that caring for our children was extremely difficult. The fact that both of them now live in group homes tells you something of how challenging it really was.
That is not to say that an autism diagnosis is a tragedy. There are things that can go along with autism that can make life hard, but autism itself is not a terrible thing.
There is more autism in our family than just our two oldest children. Twenty years after that first diagnosis, we have had much time to reflect on autism.
My Good News that I want to share with you is that autism is okay. It is not a disease, it is not an injury, it is not a tragedy. Autism is a different neurological makeup of the brain. I think we have made our peace with autism, even if we still grieve some of the things that have happened with the autism.
Well said. I have autism like symptoms and because I had to go to a special school run by an abusive headmaster, I was made to feel that being autistic was something to be ashamed of. If only I had known that the headmaster was telling me more about himself than he was about me.
Thanks for sharing from your story. That must have been very difficult.
Hello, I have just found your website and blog. I am an autistic Methodist in the UK and I am currently doing an MA in Critical Autism Studies. One of my assignments is to do an environmental report on somewhere, to see how autism friendly it is, and I have chosen my church.
Some interesting stuff here. Thank you.
I would love to hear about what you come up with.It sounds very interesting.