Autism and a Diagnosis

There are days that come in your life that change your life forever and for me, 13 Jan 2016 was one of those days. I sat in a prominent child psychiatrist’s office in Delhi and got an Autism diagnosis for Dhruv. As Dhruv wasn’t a classic case of Autism it had taken us time to get the diagnosis and he was all of 6. Myriad emotions came rushing to my brain and mixed with those feelings of pain, uncertainty, and shock was also this feeling of relief that now I knew why my child was so different.

It’s exactly 4 years since that day and we have come a long way. From knowing zilch about Autism I can now write sagas about it. Autism has been a part of my life since the day Dhruv was born, just that I didn’t know it.

Over the years I have realized Autism is not the enemy nor is it a death sentence but wiring of a different kind. It has made me wiser and given me a fresh perspective on life. It has made me more resilient as it challenges me and my child on a regular basis.

Living with Autism 24/7 is one of the toughest things I have had to do as I see my child fail at things I take for granted. At age 10 he struggles with tasks a child half his age can do easily. I have started thinking out of the box in order to teach him the ways of the world. Having said that the joy that comes when you see your child achieve something that he truly struggles with is amazing!

Everyone on the Autism Spectrum is not a Sheldon Cooper or a genius. Some may have exceptional skills and severe challenges too but no one talks about them as the spotlight is only on the giftedness of the individual.

An individual with Autism could be verbal or nonverbal with challenges of varying degrees, some mild, some in the middle and some so severe one can’t even imagine it…one only sees the tip of the iceberg, and hence it’s not fair to compare or assume anything about them.

As someone once said, “If you have met one individual with Autism, you have met one individual with Autism.”

A diagnosis changed our lives and it made me understand my child better today he has progressed from where he was simply because we accepted and started understanding him and his Autism.

I see a lot of parents struggling to accept a diagnosis and being in denial. I want to tell them it’s ok, it’s a process and someday they will make peace with it. Autism is a lot about thunderstorms and rainbows and the trick is to focus on the rainbows.

If you have a child with delayed milestones or developmental delay don’t wait, go meet a child psychiatrist or a clinical psychologist and start working on the Intervention required.