Introduction to my blog
Our family was thrilled with joy for the newborn son. We enrolled him in a preschool, and the teacher suggested us to check with his pediatrician since no one understands his words. Our pediatrician arranged for us to see a professional. Before our meeting, we filled in pages of questionnaires. They observed and interviewed us for hours and came with the diagnosed provisional "PDD-NOS." Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified or said it's a 'mild' autism spectrum. The Specialist said 'provisional' in the diagnose cause that might be only language delay since it's common for a boy who grows up in a family with multi-spoken languages. Anyway, at that time, when we heard the word 'autism,' we as parents were shocked and couldn't sleep for days. None in the family was diagnosed with autism. We were overwhelming with sadness and darkness of the future. We didn't know what to do. We searched for any information to get as much help and support from any institution and local government. Our son had speech therapy from the diagnosis, and when he was five, he graduated from the speech therapy services from school and insurance provided before finishing his kindergarten.
Our younger son also got delayed language development. Different from my older son, he didn't speak any strange words. He is a picky eater and doesn't chew his food (swallow the food without chewing), although he has no problem with his jaw, mouth, and muscles. He doesn't like the feeling of dirt/sand in his hands and feet, bothered when he dropped any food on his table or spill anything on his shirt/pants, not flexible when his schedule changed. For these symptoms, the professional suggested getting the ABA therapy and followed by speech therapy. They also arranged an Occupational therapy schedule to train him with his chewing problem. My daily schedule was running from school to clinics from one treatment to another. Nothing comes to my priority other than my child's progress. Today my younger son attends a public school with speech therapy on his IEP.
Parents might felt your dreams shattered when your child got autism diagnosed. Give yourself time to grieve, heal, and accept. Embrace yourself and your child. This attitude will enable you to go on and make the best of situations and enjoy your life.
I find joy in raising my children, accept them for who they are. Learn together and support them at all times. Yes, it's hard to bear sometimes, but it's rewarding when we see the progress they made.
Autistic children's brains wired differently; they learned with different approaches, but they can excel at many things beyond what we can imagine compared to typical children. Let's not limit our autistic children. Exposures at their paces will bring them far.
I learned that 'Autism' is not a disability; it's a different ability.
Though I'm not an autism expert, I would like to share my journey with my children, our ups and downs, what we have tried and succeed and hope our experience will give value and support to the autism society.