This is part of our series for Autism Awareness Month. We asked friends to share what Autism means to them. Submissions will be included from autistic children, autistic adults, parents, professionals, and friends.
My oldest is autistic, but he wasn't diagnosed until he was 9. I knew from the beginning, but no one would listen to me. It began to make me wonder if it was all in my head and maybe people were right and it was my parenting skills. It took us moving to a different state to FINALLY get someone to listen (actually it was his school and after a week they asked ME if they could test him). Getting the diagnosis did not change my son or change how we thought of him... autism does NOT define who he is! What did change was our parenting and it opened up doors to resources that could help us to help our son and to be the best parents we could be to him. I'm so grateful to companies like Sensi-Pal for their products that have helped us with our son so he can learn to cope and survive this big scary world.
-Submitted by Rachel