Nothing could have prepared me for that rainy April morning 11 years ago when my daughter Lily was first diagnosed with autism: not the growing prevalence among children, not the autism awareness online, not even relationships with autistic people.
No matter how incredible the education, no matter how positive the exposure – learning your child has autism can take the breath from your lungs. You lose the one thing that every parent desperately wants: certainty.
“Give me something reliably true,” is what I said after learning the news. An autism diagnosis drew a red line through my plans and the future I had imagined for us.
But Lily’s love changed me, and I watch every year as Lily’s light changes the world. I would never go back and rewrite this story. I would choose being mom to my girl.
World Autism Day is Tuesday. The day was crafted in 2018 by the United Nations General Assembly as a day to promote, protect and ensure rights, freedoms and dignity for people with disabilities.
As we approach what some in the community call Autism Acceptance Day, my heart turns to the parents who are new here, who have just learned their child has a lifelong neurological condition, who don’t yet know what the range of characteristics may be, and who probably don’t yet feel like celebrating.
I want you to know that one day you will throw a party – just as I now do every year on World Autism Day with my autistic daughter. Though it could take time.
Eleven years ago, I thought we were just…
