Diagnosed with Autism

During Autism Awareness Month, I would be remiss if I did not share a bit about the diagnosis of autism. It is amazing how prevalent this disorder is becoming. When my first son was born twelve years ago I did not know much about autism. I knew of autism, and actually even worked with adults who were on the spectrum; however, I had no experience with children or even babies with the disorder.

When my son was a baby he seemed to be progressing fine. He said his first words when he was six months, but as he grew older we did notice a definite delay in speech. I did think that there was a problem but I did not have any other babies to compare him to. He was my first child and the only grandchild. Additionally, I had no friends with children of a similar age to compare him to.

When I first noticed concerns I approached the topic with my husband and he was sensitive to it and was deathly afraid of having our son tested for any developmental delays because he was afraid of the “label” my child would receive and how that “label” will impact him in the future. With that being said we did not explore any form of testing. I never imagined that he had autism. I just thought he had a speech delay.

As time went on my sister actually had a bit of an intervention with me and gave me copies of articles and information on autism and told me that I needed to get my son tested. Again, I dismissed the notion that he had autism, but I convinced my husband that testing was now beyond necessary so we looked into testing options through our school district. At this point my son was three and it took a year to obtain an assessment from the time we submitted the initial paperwork.

Finally the day of the assessment came. In the middle of the session the psychologist told me that she was going to pull out the assessment for autism (I do not remember the name of it). I thought in my head (oh there that word is again). I said okay to the test, but did not believe that the autism would be the diagnosis.

About a month after the actual assessment I received the results. Yes, it was autism. I was confused and still in disbelief. This diagnosis came approximately eight years ago and there were less resources and information available at that time when compared to what is available today. Knowledge is power and if I knew then what I know now I would have had my son tested as soon as I noticed that there was a potential problem. Although my son has progressed wonderfully since he began therapy and school, early intervention would have been optimal. If I could give one bit of advice to parents it would be not to wait to have their child assessed for developmental delays should concerns arise. Do not do what I did and let your fear prevent you from obtaining the assistance that your child needs.

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15).