It’s official. . .The dx is autism. | Autism PDD

I knew it all along, but it's still weird to hear a dr.  say it outright.   UNtil now, it was "PDD"  . . .now it's definitely "autism".   it's almost a relief though at this point.  does that sound weird?   now we have a name to what we've known was wrong for awhile.   

[QUOTE=Katrina + 2]thanks. . .yeah- it's really weird to say it out loud to someone, "he has autism". . .it doesn't seem real- like,  this is my life?   i never thought i'd be one of "those parents"  with one of "those children". .   kwim?    very surreal.  [/QUOTE]

I absolutley know what you mean.  My daughter has a dual dx of Down syndrome & Autism.  When she was born it was a HUGE rollercoaster of emotions ( we had no knowldedge of the Down syndrome ) and she had a heart defect that needed immediate repair.....it was very stressful to say the least.

Everyone was VERY kind to us.....lots of cards, calls, and dinners and everyone just congratulated us on our beautiful girl and we never heard anything negative ( which was so sweet).....BUT.....everyone had to tell us about their cousin's best friend's neigbor who used to get their hair cut by a woman who had a child with Down syndrome or some other completely random connection to a person with Down syndrome.....OR.....the line we heard most...." Did you ever watch 'Life goes on', remember Corky ?"

Anyways....my long-winded point was that I did NOT want to be one of THOSE parents !!  I was supposed to be ME....not the woman with the "downs girl".  My MIL had her neigbor's friend's daughter call me because she had a teenager with Down syndrome.....I didn't even want to talk to her....too soon ?  who knows....but I was just in tears the whole time and did not want to hear how " they don't even notice that he has Down syndrome anymore "

I just wanted to be ME.....

and, yes I also know the relief......because while we expected delays, etc with her....I KNEW there was something ELSE going on besides "normal delays" and it was a HUGE relief to me to have the dx......

ps....this board has been great !

Katrinta.  I feel for you.  I have yet to hear the any formal diagnosis, yet.  I anticipate I will shortly, however.  I will keep you in my thoughts and hope for the best for you.

Erin

 

I feel weirdly self-conscious telling people about it, but it's only been necessary a couple of times (outside of family, I mean).

I didn't have to jump through as many hoops as y'all, and I still find it sort of surreal, even though we were finally able to put our finger on the thing about him that was different ever since he was a baby.  That was a relief.  Didn't stop me from crying, I have to say, and I still feel pretty anxious about it all.

I always had a great deal of empathy for parents (and kids) with special needs kiddos.  Like you, though, I just never thought I'd be part of that particular club.

Yep.  Congrats on the dx, now to the services.

It was very tough even hearing a school dx.  I guess I could pretend I was jsut imagining things, before.

I hear ya--we heard "maybe PDD" & "autistic features" for well over a year.
Then, to go through the eval & get "Autism" in black & white, it was such a
range of emotions. There was also a lot of relief, & also surprise. As much
as you may think it's coming, to sit in that office & hear it...makes it all more
real. It's now been a few weeks since our 'official dx' & it's settled in. We are
pretty much back to our un-normal ( ) life.

No, it doesn't sound weird to me at all.  I was sure that was what was going on with Jason, and yet it's a different thing to hear an official diagnosis.

I'm still adjusting to it, and struggle with telling people that he has autism when his behavior is...well, not so good, let's say.  *sigh*

Hugs to you!

thanks. . .yeah- it's really weird to say it out loud to someone, "he has autism". . .it doesn't seem real- like,  this is my life?   i never thought i'd be one of "those parents"  with one of "those children". .   kwim?    very surreal. 
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