Autism-

Autism is of course when the parent is first introduced to it and it is their child, NOT WELCOME. You go through a lot of pain. People you just know not even friends who happen to have a child your child's age start the comparison game and in addition to what is starting to happen behaviorally, it's an ice cold dagger. Looking back I guess we built a fortress, pulled in and locked the fortress walls and that was it for a long time. I remember co-workers usually in the morning as everyone's getting going complaining about what their little one did last night. I remember having to just stay stone silent, because it would either blow them away so hard they would feel alienated around me at work which you don't want or the other side of that blade is the ones who don't care. That one was always harder to figure out but it felt sometimes like there was an unspoken thought of, "you must have deserved it or received it for some reason". There was a little of that, not a lot. But at least I stayed quiet. Never knew where to start or stop. That behavioral period lasted for many years and I believe the Spanish Inquisition might have been easier! I just know we loved our children, therefore we were going to win with love. Despite the pain. Now, it is actually hard to remember the bad behavior times. It has been that long. For any living in that nightmare time period, know there is hope..tons of it not that far off. You are in a hurricane and you just have to hold on for dear life! ZR