Sometimes it can be lonely...

Every parent that is raising an autistic child knows that feeling: where you feel like your backed-up against the wall and have no idea what to do next.

You have to make sure you don’t isolate yourself from the outside world. Because the confrontation with the “normal” world can be difficult at times.

When you have a child with a disability, the problems usually get bigger when you step into the big world outside. The confrontation with a “normal” child sort off emphasizes what your child can’t do. Those moments can be very painful. Especially when you have just found out that something is wrong.

In our family, there is a boy the same age as our oldest son. I caught myself comparing him to my son all the time in the beginning. And you sometimes even get jealous. Why our child? But after the first shock of the diagnoses, the acceptance starts. And off course the acceptance part is still a work in progress.

We made a choice from the beginning to be open to everybody in our surrounding. In fact, we called all our family and friends about what was happing in our lives. We lost some friends as a result off our openness about our son’s autism. I think they didn’t know how to react to it. But we believe that the love and understanding of our loved ones is imperative to this acceptance process. You need a shoulder to cry on. You need people that know you are having a hard time. And the only way you’re able to get that, is by being open en going outside into the world. And off course for our son it’s helpful that people understand that some things are difficult for him.

Luckily years have gone by and I have met many other parents with children on the spectrum. Talking to and connecting with people who are going thru the same things helps.

So, to all you auti parents out there even though we might feel alone at times, we’re not alone.