The Relief I Felt After My Son’s Autism Diagnosis

Relief. That’s the best word I can come up with to describe how I felt when we were given the autism diagnosis. Not scared, sad, angry; just relief.

After all, nothing changed. He was the same sweet, adorable, funny guy he was before the diagnosis, but now we had answers.

Now we knew why he had trouble looking us in the eye when we spoke, or why he chose to sit alone at the computer for hours and hours when the neighborhood kids were outside enjoying the summer. Now we knew why he used unusual or sophisticated words for a child his age to explain his obsessions and why he’d sometimes say inappropriate things at inappropriate times. Now we knew why he stood like a tree when we gave him a hug, but surprised us with hugs on his own terms.

We were suddenly empowered with the ability to help him navigate through life thanks to all the wonderful resources we now have at our disposal, both online and in our community. Now we could use those resources to advocate for him in a meaningful way.

Relief. Because nothing has changed, except our perspective.

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