Autism Diagnosis – Life After The Autism Diagnosis

An autism diagnosis carries a huge emotional punch! Shock is usually the first reaction a parent has to hearing the diagnosis of Autism. Various terms are thrown around that mean pretty much the same thing: autism spectrum disorder, PDD, PDD/NOS, Asperger’s, etc., each more confusing that then next.  What follows is a myriad of medical, educational options, social services and therapies – it’s enough to drive a parent crazy!

My son was  given an autism diagnosis about 16 years ago in San Diego, CA. The information that has exploded onto the scene since that time is mind boggling. But at least it’s better than having little to nothing, which is what I faced!

I had no idea where to go or where to turn. Thankfully, there was a  local chapter of the Autism Society of America meeting not far from my home so I became a member and started to attend meetings.

This changed my life!

I met the most wonderful people – people who understood! They were all dealing with the after affects of an autism diagnosis, some better than others!  They knew what I meant when I said the work “tantrum” and “perseveration”. They were not judgmental but were eager to hear my story and to pass on as much information as they could to try and ease my way into this new world. In return, I became the chapter president and for the next 9 years, I did my best to teach and support others. Even today, the first piece of advice I give to parents who are reeling from an autism diagnosis to better their lives and the life of their child is to join parent support groups, and not only via the internet but groups of actual, real human beings.

And that is why I became an advocate. I believe it allows me the opportunity to meet special needs  parents, educators and therapists, all of whom have amazing ideas and approaches. But they don’t always know how to work together for the benefit of the child.

I can help. I can create an amazing IEP team – one that works together respectfully and effectively. I can take an intensely antagonistic situation and turn it around (not always in one meeting!!). I can help an IEP team better deliver an autism diagnosis, and I can help parents get back on their feet after hearing an autism diagnosis.

My goal is always to work on behalf of my client (the child) and to help create a better future for him or her. To me, that means not only working with the IEP team to create a working documents that does indeed support the child in every way possible, but I also teach everyone how to get along. The last thing I want is to create a situation where the parent is forced to contact me every time there is a meeting with the school personnel. To me, this would be nothing less than failure.

My own personal experiences over the years since Sam’s autism diagnosis have taught me many valuable lessons and I bring this experience to each and every situation where I can offer support to a family who has a child with special needs. The most important thing I have learned is that there IS life after the diagnosis. It’s not always the life you dreamed of but it is still amazing, filled with wonderful people and events, and definitely not to be missed!