My son was diagnosed 3 months ago. Doctors avoided to pronounce the word "autism" to avoid I had an heart attack in front of them.
I had to understand what the diagnosis meant by myself. When I understood, I was scared because I thought that there was nothing to do. Doctors didn't tell me that my son can have a life that's worth to be lived. They treat me like it was better he was died.
I was not informed about available therapies.
I thought that his future was to be placed in a mental hospital because I didn't meet an adult person with autism in my life. I wondered where autistic people are, why autistic people don't speak.
I understood that parents don't reveal to their children their real condition so many autistic people don't know to be autistic.
I couldn't find any autistic community in Italy and I wanted to know how my son feels and thinks.
WP helped me because here I can meet autistic people and I was surprised of their cleverness. I found that they are different people and I fount that difference fascinating.
I discovered that they have sense of humour, they can love other people, they have feelings, they don't want to be trated as they were sick.
I also discovered I have some aspie traits in socializing and interests.