“My entire world came crashing down. We finally knew WHY he was different.”
‘He stopped speaking.’ I was scared. I didn’t recognize my child. We were on our own now.’: Mom of Autistic boy says, ‘I love him with every fiber of my being’
‘He let out a big sigh. ‘I feel funny asking, but does Autism last forever? Will he have it when we are old and in heaven?’: Mom to autistic son urges ‘have the emotional and honest conversations’
“I didn’t answer right away. I wanted to listen. He went on to say, ‘I remember when I was little mama and Cooper had it. I couldn’t figure him out. I used to think he was from a different planet because he screamed all the time.’ He sighed. ‘I just wish sometimes it would go away so we could talk.'”
‘The father apologized. ‘Mind if I try something?’ By the end of the flight, it clicked. He was astounded.’: Dad ‘nearly cries’ after speech pathologist teaches autistic son to communicate on plane for the first time
“On my flight, I sat next to a father and his autistic son. Before it even took off, there was screaming, hitting, grabbing. The father repeatedly apologized, but did little else. He warned it would be a difficult flight. ‘Not to worry.’ I had experience with minimally verbal kiddos. By the end of it, his son was changed.”
‘My daughter came home from preschool different. She was biting herself. She stopped speaking, sleeping, playing with toys. I could no longer write it off.’ Mom receives Rett Syndrome diagnosis, told it’s ‘one of the most severe cases’
“I get a call from the geneticist. The call drops 3 separate times. The most important call of our life and I miss it. I sit and wait. My phone rings again. He says, ‘Genetics just confirmed Evie has Rett Syndrome.’ He says, ‘There’s no cure. We can’t change it. You can’t do anything.’ My heart sank. This was serious.”
‘He swipes food off of stranger’s plates in restaurants. He likes to wear my Spanx because he loves the squeeze. In the beginning it was a bitter pill to swallow.’: Mom’s non-verbal son with autism has ‘led to my happiest life’
“I went to bed, buried myself under the comforters, and cried until there was nothing left. He would never work at his father’s firm, never give me grandchildren, and would probably never live independently.”
Aunt’s moving gesture for parents who welcomed her autistic nephew at birthday party: ‘I was overwhelmed’
“No amount of emojis or words can really express what it meant to our family to be welcomed by Jake’s family.”
