Autism can be so unpredictable. There’s no cure, there’s not one widely agreed upon cause, and no two people with autism are exactly the same. I remember when my daughter was first diagnosed at 3 years old, I asked questions like “will she ever be fully independent? will she go to college? will she marry? will she drive a car?” Of course, no doctor or therapist could answer that with certainty- and I asked them all! It’s funny to look back at that time and think about how important those things were to me then, and to realize how very unimportant they are to me today.
There are just too many things about autism that are variable and uncertain. However, here are five things I know to be true about autism:
1. We are not alone:
Raising a child with autism has brought some amazing people into my life. I’ve met some incredible parents in clinic waiting rooms, online forums, and doctors’ offices. It’s been incredibly powerful and comforting to be able to relate to other families walking down this path and to know that we are not the only ones.