Living with an Autistic Child.

Imagine, you are awaiting the birth of your child. Your mind is filled with hopes and expectations for your off spring. You hold this creation in your arms at the birth and your heart overflows with love. Only the best will do for this little one.
He reaches all his milestones in the first year yet something is bothering you. Why doesn't he like to be cuddled, he is fretful and seems irritated by his clothing. As much as you try, you cannot quite get him to make eye contact with you.
At 2 years old, your pride and joy is making no attempt to communicate. Is he perhaps deaf you ask your partner? We get him tested. No, his hearing is perfect. We are referred to a child psychologist for an assessment. We are given the results. Our boy is Autistic. What does this mean for his and our future? Is it hereditary? Can we possibly think about increasing our family to the 3 children we have spoken about? A million questions flood my brain.
As a mother, the love felt for this child almost burst through my chest. He is special, in fact, extra special. He is mine and yes we face many challenges. We have to learn sign language, we paste pictures on the fridge and cupboards so that he can indicate to us what it is that he wants.
He needs to attend weekly sessions of speech therapy and occupational therapy and we need to find a school that will cater for is needs. Nothing will stop us in our quest for the best for him, and while our old hopes and dreams for him will probably never come to pass, we have new dreams and expectations. He will be treated like any other child and encouraged to do his best, achieve his full potential and take his rightful place in the world .