Understanding and Autism

Well, well, well.  Why am I going to talk about this?  The problem starts when the child is born and the things they have to do to help their children before their autism diagnosis.  They don’t take into account that the child is different, but YOU know they are.  You have spent time with them and helped and supported them.  

I can remember many visits to medical people and they would ask questions like why he is screaming or not talking or hiding behind me, or whatever.  My response was that he is autistic.  Their position was that they wanted proof.  However, it doesn’t change the fact if he’s diagnosed or not.  But when he was diagnosed, suddenly, everything he did was ok….yeah..

But there’s not just our understanding about our autistic people, it’s vice versa too!  They don’t understand things that go on.  I remember one night two girls told me about things with him and he was completely disconnected from it and had no understanding of what they were saying.  I could see it very clearly.

Johnathan is absolutely NO EXCEPTION to the rule.  Some things he understands and some he doesn’t.  But then that’s probably the same with all of us.  We all have different reasons why we don’t understand things, it’s just part of life.  I don’t understand the nuances of some language at times, or I hear things oddly and look at people asking if what I heard is correct because it just doesn’t make sense, and invariably I have misheard.

Personally I believe it’s hard for people to understand because it’s SO different from what they assume is the reality.  I mean, I saw autistic children and even worked with some.  But living with autism changes your outlook COMPLETELY.  You find yourself doing things that you never expected to have to do in your life just to keep the home life sane’

I love my son and the autism is just part and parcel of who he is and what he does.    I will always help and support him in any way I can.  He’s our special gift from God and nothing will ever change that.