Hello all you lovely people, today I thought I would write a blog which is of great significance to me. I am currently writing a new novel and one of my favourite characters is a boy called Jake who has a diagnosis of Autism. I have based him on the many people with whom I have shared my life, who have a diagnosis.
I have lived with Autism in one way or another all of my life, some undiagnosed, but most definitely on the spectrum, and then, one day sitting in the garden with my Dad he asked if I had noticed anything odd concerning my eighth child, I was gobsmacked to say the least, I mean let’s be honest as a parent you never want to think that there could be something wrong with your child!
It wasn’t until some months later, after my Dad sadly left this mortal coil that I took my son to pre-school, and it was that very day that I realised that My Dad was right, he was so very different from all the other children. After undergoing dramatic self-realisation that day, I booked an appointment with the GP and started the proverbial ball rolling, and what a rollercoaster of a ride that was!
Having little knowledge of Autism back then, I read many books and was horrified, the prognosis for someone with a diagnosis was shocking, this was of course back in the early 2000s, which I found preposterous for such a broad spectrum, the world of science seemed to pigeon-hole back then all into one box.
After the diagnosis, as a mother, I immediately began to look at his older siblings and realised that probably half of them carried very similar, if not so obvious traits as he. But and this is a big but, I now have four sons with a diagnosis, all very different, but they are the most wonderful people anyone could ask to meet. They are happy with who they are and I embrace that, living in the hope that one day, society's attitude to Autism changes and they learn to love and respect their individuality, instead of trying to make them bend to conformism and the constraints which society dictates.
We decided a few years ago to take our boys out of mainstream education, where there was no suitable educational pathway and teach them at home, where we tailor their learning around them and guess what it worked! Our youngest son who is nearly twelve has never had a day in formal education, yet he reads and writes fluently, and is learning everything he needs to know, to aid him in adult life.
So the next time you meet someone who has Autism in their family, don’t look at them pitifully, as so many people do us, smile, knowing that just because the world is seen differently, doesn’t always make it a bad place to be, thank you for taking the time to read my blog, until the next time,
Louise X.
Comentários