Share How Autism Has Affected Your Life

Who in your life has been affected by autism and how?

My whole family have been affected by Autism. My younger son was diagnosed at age 5yrs old with the condition. At this time we had been fighting with the system from Nursery, Hospitals, Doctors. My son was expelled from Nursery at age three due to biting. My Husband worked as a postman at the time and had to get up at four in the morning and I worked as a Barmaid so often didn't get home till two in the morning after functions. David thought that this meant he could get up at the same time as His Dad and wake Me and His elder Brother up as well.

My elder Son suffered at school due to lack of sleep as they shared a room. David would often hit his brother and us if He didn't like what was happening. We couldn't go out for family days out as he hated any kind of change and would only be happy playing his computer games. He wouldn't stay with babysitters so no couple times for us. This was a real struggle as it meant we had no respite from him. We moved into a bigger house when David was six and this helped as he had his own room. This meant that Kenneth could get proper sleep. David would eat the same food every day and would have a hissy fit if the packaging changed. We ended up keeping old packets to put the same product into. David's condition caused rifts in the family as everything had to revolve around his routine. All through school and college He has found it challenging due to His autism and associated disorders that he has. He has a phobia of dentists which means that He has to be put under general anesthetic to have any dental work done and as soon as He turned 16 He was no longer considered a child and was dropped from the system, yet another fight to get Him onto adult services. If it hadn't been for some really good friends who also have children on the spectrum I really don't think I would have coped. One good thing that did come of David's condition was that I set up a support group for Parents/carers of children with all additional needs which allowed me to find out more about things for My Son.

Where is your loved one on the spectrum?

David was diagnosed with ADHD at age 3yrs and we were told that He didn't have autism when He was seen in a clinic. His specialist came to do an assessment at home and was in the house 5 mins before saying oh yes, typical autistic behaviour. He was then given a diagnosis of ASD which was later changed to Asperger's syndrome. When I questioned this change I was told that it was just an explanation of His condition and not to worry. We still consider Him to be autistic rather than Asperger as we have friend with children with both diagnoses and he definitely acts more like the ones with ASD.

What do you wish people would understand about autism?

I wish that people would realise that ASD people don't all have special areas and that they are highly intelligent. They do not sit in a corner and rock all day or have savant tendencies as the film Rainman portrayed. I wish that people would take time to get to know Him before judging Him. He is a bright intelligent young adult who would love to have a job but can't manage to do an interview as His condition makes Him nervous around others. I just wish that people would learn more about autism and that schools and colleges would talk more about it