A day in the life of Jose.
When my son Jose was born I never thought I would be raising a child with autism. At the age of 2 years old, I knew there was something different about Jose. He wasn't your average 2 year old who ran, jumped, played, ate, laughed and smiled. He was a child trapped in his own world. I knew in my heart something was wrong, he was not society's "normal".
At 2 and a half years old, Jose was diagnosed with autism PDD (Perpasive Developmental Disorder). My husband and I had no words to describe what we were feeling. I never thought this would happen to us. I couldn't believe how much of a mystery autism was to me. I just kept thinking, why me? How was I supposed to teach my son anything, when I had no clue what I was doing myself.
As the years passed by, I realized I couldn't feel sorry for myself. One day I had an epiphany! We need to move forward and learn what autism was about, we need to get more involved so we could show and teach Jose how to learn in a different way. We were determined that he was going to learn what "normal" kids learned and not stop at the basics! Our journey had a number of ups and downs, just attempting to learn our son, understand him and help him express himself was challenging. What we take for granted as the most simple task took weeks to achieve. Holding a spoon or walking through automatic sliding doors didn't come easy.
There were and still are times I feel overwhelmed with stress and anxiety; but when I look at my son he gives me the strength to keep going and recover. Now, as my son enters high school, we have no doubt there will be more obstacles and we're ready to beat them! We're ready to keep moving forward and break down the walls that keep our children and Autism silent!! We are beyond BLESSED to have him in our life. There are no obstacles that we face, that as a family we cannot overcome! Very few understand the way an autistic child sees the world. Only someone who has a child with
PS. To the parents who have a child with autism or any disability my advice to you is to never give up. When you think you can't go on, just remember you are not alone. The journey might look long, (and it will be) the round may look extremely winding and bumpy, (and it will be) but if the ride you're on is making a difference in your child's life, trust me it's worth the effort. You're closer than you were yesterday. Good Luck; never loose hope; stay strong and remember, we are not alone.
For more information regarding Autism check out the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association or if your looking for a place to donate check out the ARC
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