Diagnosis Means Nothing
So, we had a diagnosis. A reason, if you will, for Zach being the way he is. What did it change? Not as much as you would think. At least, not at first. It gave me understanding, but I now had a child with more needs than I could provide for, and four others who still needed Mommy. I still didn't know how to handle the meltdowns of a 3 year old, my husband was still gone, and I still had other issues in the family that needed working out. In some ways, I began to neglect the needs of the other kids: not on purpose, but now that I had a "special" one, his needs seemed to come before everyone else's, including mine. That is still true more times than I want it to be, but I'm learning balance.
What do I mean by "diagnosis means nothing?" The thing about a diagnosis is that it points you in a direction, and usually not the one you were pointing in before. It doesn't cure anything, it doesn't make the condition less difficult, or gone, it just gives you a clue as to what you are working with.
So, in short, the diagnosis was like a launch pad: a way to help us get for Zach what he needed. I have to say that from the time I owned up to the fact that I needed to get him help until we had a diagnosis was miraculously short. January to May. That's incredible in the Autism world.
He started Speech therapy, and had been in Early Childhood Education since March of that year. He was still having meltdowns, and still very rough with Katie, but we knew what was going on now.
I will expound on the rest of the things that "happened" as this story progresses.
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Extra Special Boy
Non-FictionOur true story about our ups, downs, discoveries, and mistakes of raising a child on the Autism Spectrum. I hope it can be inspirational and encouraging to others who are in the same colorful world we're in.
