Welcome to the team little guy

You turned 6 this year. Ever since you were two, your mother has noticed differences between you and your sister. And yesterday you were diagnosed with autism. And now I can officially welcome you to the neurodiverse world. Your mother and I have known for ages that you are on the spectrum, your behavior and your difficulties are very recognizable to me. Also my guidance and the help at your mother’s home, who has a lot of experience with autism, found that you were very clearly on the spectrum.

And now I welcome you to the “club”, the “tribe” or the team. And I’m very happy that we now have the diagnosis officially. This means that in the future you can get the help you need. It means that money will be available to help you. It also confirms what we have known for years; you really look like your father.

Fighting for acceptance

With my blog I fight for acceptance of neurodiversity. Now not only for myself and others, but also for you. I wish you a world that doesn’t look down on you. That people see you as a full-fledged person who only has a different way of thinking. If you are supported in the things you need help for, you will undoubtedly get very far.

It is also true that this does not change anything about you. You are my son, you do your own thing, you are so sweet and you know so much about the things that interest you. That doesn’t change anything. Nothing really changes for your surroundings either. With the diagnosis there will be changes, such as a new school. But much will remain the same. Although we now have a paper in our hands to strangers next to our own explanation.

When you look back on your life, I hope you will see that your mother and I have done everything to help you. From my own past I know the pitfalls that I can help you avoid. We can make good use of your strengths and support your weaknesses.

Finally but still

At first, I wrote that we’d known there was something wrong since you were two. And now you’re six years old. So that lasted four years. Of course, the specialists say that certain forms of autism cannot be diagnosed at an early stage. However, we were first dismissed and told that we were wrong. However, we did not give up and continued to sound the alarm. When school also indicated that deviant behaviour was seen, this did not come as a surprise to us. From then on, the authorities finally got started. If still it took two years.

But now it’s time. We are here! Welcome to the neurodiverse world little man! I wish you a better world