When your child is diagnosed with autism, at whatever age, you will inevitably seek out as much information as you can about the disorder.
Autism Spectrum Disorder.
You will read blogs, buy books, watch television shows, join groups, and talk to experts, friends, and family.
You want to know everything you can.
I will tell you in the beginning, what I saw in books didn’t match my son.
What I saw online didn’t either.
And the challenges that were supposedly coming our way….everyone was so quick to share those.
What I needed, in the beginning, was for someone to tell me about the joy. The beauty. The undying love and devotion.
My son Cooper is 13 years old now. His diagnosis is still severe, level 3, nonspeaking autism. And while that diagnosis brings help and support to him, it doesn’t define him.
So here goes. Here is the joy.
Every morning he wakes me up by touching his hand to my cheek. He rests it there until I open my eyes and then he giggles.
He communicates in a dozen different ways. My favorite is when he finds a scene in a show to tell me something. Like when it’s snowing and he shows me the Polar Express or when his baby sister is upset and he shows me baby George from Peppa Pig.|
Yesterday he got the hiccups and he laughed this deep belly laugh that made me stop what I was doing. He grabbed my hands and jumped up and down until the next hiccup came.
He had his best IEP meeting ever earlier week.
He rides a horse. He plays miracle league baseball.
He has a birthday party to go to next week!
Every morning he dresses himself and shows me as if it’s the most amazing thing ever. And it is! Because he worked so hard to achieve that goal.
He waits for the bus every morning for 15 minutes before it comes. He adores school.
He negotiates. He takes beautiful photos. He is going to be a train conductor for Halloween.
He has two best friends. And all he wants for Christmas is to have a sleepover.
A dozen times a day he turns his head and says SSS. He is asking for a whisper.
He dances to his shadow and gasps at snow and I swear he hears things in the wind that I cannot.
A diagnosis of autism is heavy and changes every part of our lives. That’s undeniable.
But remember, that includes the unbelievable joy we get to see every single day.
