“Please don’t use the ‘A’ word,” said David’s mother. “The word autism wasn’t allowed in my vocabulary.”
She explains, “But David was wired differently. If things didn’t go his way, he had a huge melt down—screaming, hitting, or slamming doors. At night, I only had about ten hours off duty before he woke again. I struggled with horrible despair.”
After years of therapy, David began to make progress. Eventually, his IQ jumped from 50 to 80. A real miracle. He even graduated to a public school, and after his seventh birthday, he no longer wore diapers.
“Though it has taken a long time to accept the word autism,” David’s mother continued, “I now understand that autism doesn’t define my son; it isn’t a tragedy. There are other aspects of my son’s personality like being friendly and kind that don’t have anything to do with autism. David is still a great kid; he just happens to be a great kid with autism.”
Note: A special thank you to the families who shared stories of children within Hope Network.
