During Autism Awareness month, I challenged myself to reach out to other parents on Steemit who have children on the Autism spectrum, and it was the best decision I have made in a long time.
This has been a particularly stressful month for our family, as Autism awareness month just happened to line up with our son's official evaluations and Autism diagnosis, which have been at least two years coming. Though @winstonwolfe and I have already been treating him on our own and through local early intervention programs, we had a long wait to get everything official.
Now, many more doors will be open to us, permitting we can find the funding to pay for it all. Now, I know, just like any parent who has received their child's diagnosis knows, the real "fun" can begin.
Through all of this personal stuff, I was connecting with Moms and Dads across the globe who are writing their own chapters of their Autism journey.
Like @beautifulbullies who was bravely preparing to take her family on vacation and nervously preparing to make travel as fun as possible for her ASD child.
Like @imaginedragon and @erodedthoughts who have been struggling to find the right therapists to fit their family's needs.
Like @aspiejoe who, like many parents of newly-diagnosed Autistic children, was discovering his own diagnosis as he learned more about his son's signs of Autism.
Hearing these stories, as well as so many others, gave me an enormous amount of perspective and has had an influence on me as I make decisions for my son's course of treatment.
Are you the parent of a child on the spectrum? Or do you suspect you may be?
Are you the parent of a "neurotypical" who would like to understand more about the struggles of kiddos with Autism?
Are you on the spectrum yourself and would like to help mentor parents with an insider's perspective on how we can better connect with and guide our children?
Then You're Invited to a new Discord channel!!
Steemit Autism Community Roll Call!!
The Autism support community is growing rapidly on Steemit! Here are some awesome Autism parents to follow. If you want to connect with more parents of children on the spectrum, any one of them would be happy to help guide you any way they can!
@imaginedragon
@aspiejoe
@arteagaile
@erodedthoughts
@bronxb17
@jazzyfish
@winstonwolfe
@ladymaharet
@omitaylor
@sukhasanasister
@lugina
@beautifulbullies
CLICK HERE to join SUPA on Discord!
Remember: YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
Hooray! :D I'm happy that you finally got the official diagnosis, just officially knowing was almost a sigh of relief for me. Even though going into it I was prepared for the diagnosis and would've been surprised if they told me differently. Lol. And yeah, finding people who are going through the same things that you are is a super important thing, because the world can be a lonely place when you have a child with autism. :) I'm always open to answer any questions or to give advice or have a chit chat about what's going on. So if anyone is down, let me know! :D
That's exactly what we told the Dr. as she was going over the results with us. She seemed very relieved when we said everything she was telling us was expected, and that we didn't exactly expect to learn anything new about our son that day. I can only imagine the range of reactions she must get from parents.
We have already gone through the emotional process that typically comes with the official diagnosis quite a while ago.
Now, we are excited to get started with additional therapies and "boot camps" to help with peer engagement and motor skills, assuming these services don't succumb to the budget cuts proposing in the house bill that is currently before our state's legislation.... Ugh.
It's always something, right? lol
Yep. That's the truth. Yeah I imagine doctors get a whole bunch of different reactions. My doctor addressed it very carefully in the beginning. She was like "Yeah so... Your son.. well.. he shows signs of autism spectrum disorder..." And like they waited to see how we would respond and we were like "Yep. We know." And they're like "Oh good." Breathe a sigh of relief. XD I know there are a lot of people on this autism support group that I follow on facebook that are so upset by the diagnosis so I can only imagine what the doctors must deal with when they give them that news.
I'm going to be moving to the states from Canada here in like a few months and found a really great clinic that offers ABA therapy to kids with autism that's a lot more involved and intense than the program he's in here. I just have to see if the insurance that I'm getting will cover it or not. Otherwise I won't be able to afford the $6k/month bill for private pay.
well done on getting the diagnosis! Now hopefully you will be able to access the help you need for the future, and thank you for the mention in the post too :)
Welcome to Steemit @jazzyfish :)
You must be so relieved and so ready to get started with all that is open to you guys now. I know the feeling and cannot wait. They pushed our son's appointment again another 2 months. The doctor that saw him at the telemed, wants to stick with him, so we had to be rescheduled. It sucks!!!
I stopped by the chat room but didn't see anyone talking, so I will keep checking :)