For parents with an autistic child, and in our case, an autistic son, life can consist of exhaustion, anxiety, and fear. But, as one mother has learned, it can also be filled with gratitude, support, and hope. Read this post from Autism Speaks.
April is Autism Awareness Month. I’m the parent of a child with autism, and I’m aware that autism, like most permanent medical conditions, is life-changing. So far, hearing the words “your son has autism” was the single worst moment of my life (and there have been some bad ones). When we received our diagnosis, I didn’t know where to turn, what to do or what to think. My only reference point was Rain Man. It was a very hopeless time in my life.
Let me acknowledge — I know there’s some really bad stuff that goes along with having a child with autism. There’s much grief, sadness, exhaustion, anger, hopelessness, anxiety and fear that go hand and hand with the condition. It sucks. But I’m also aware that there’s an abundance of gratitude, support, grace, hope, happiness, acceptance and love in our life thanks, in part, to autism.
