Little initials + your name = smater than others

Lately, when people who know about my son's Autism diagnosis begin to drill me with questions, I've been giving the same reply. Here's an example of such a conversation.

Questioner: "How can they say he has Autism. Look at what he's doing now. That shows intelligence, imagination and he is NOT secluded in his own world."

My reply: "Because a person with little initials said it IS a symptom of Autism and because he/she has those little initials, he/she is smarter than we are. The little initials means that other person can slap a label on others, labels that can profoundly change the course of another person's life."

That response usually frustrates the questioner into silence. Then I have a thought of, welcome to MY world.

I would hope most parents never have to experience such a thing with their child...to have a person with a piece of paper telling you about your child's "defects". There is such a strange moment when you realize this person has concluded that your child will not do A, B, and C, and the child is destined for this, that and other things. The initialed person makes this conclusion usually in less time than the mother took to bring the kid into the world through labor.

So after you receive one of these life-altering diagnosis and you have repressed the feeling to run naked and screaming through fresh snow, then there is the learning. The initialed person may point you in a direction but he/she certainly won't take you by the hand and go there with you.

As a parent, you must take the initiative and be an advocate for your child. Never take what others say as your child's limits. Accept the child as-is but also have goals set. Help the child move forward because honestly, the kid has no idea what he/she can and cannot do. I think this is how so many handicapped children achieve things doctors said they never would.

Nothing is easy about this but nothing worth having is ever easy.