I remember that there was a boy in my younger brother’s year at school with mild autism and instead of being the bully victim, he had the largest group of friends because everybody looked out for him and stood up for his quirky habits if anybody made a big deal out of him.

With love and therapy who knows what the outcome of his diagnosis will be? I’m sure there will be ups and downs in the future but Ryan’s still the gorgeous little boy that I read so much about

You guys will be in my thoughts and prayers!
<33333Leslie

It looks like you’ve noticed a lot of what needs to be done already, so I’m confident that you will continue to do what you need to for his sake.

(Just a note of what I’ve noticed from my experience working with autistic kids and youths… the stigma that you may be concerned about for Ryan — he may not even pick up on it. Many autistic kids, because of the diagnosis, are oblivious about what others think of them, and therefore they could care less. Because they’re so socially behind, they don’t generally pick up on the stigma and the negative cues from their environments. It doesn’t affect them how they are treated as much as it affects those who love him. Take care of yourselves, okay?)

I rarely comment on your site but I read it very often.
I was very emotional when I read your post, because my little sister was diagnosed with autism too. Until the age of 3 years old, she never spoke, not even the word “Mama”. To be understood, she showed us things and made noises, and cried a lot when we did not understand what she said. It was very difficult to get her attention, and it was often as i we spoke to a wall: she showed no sign of having heard what we had said. She had a lot of toys she never played with, and could spend hours doing absolutely nothing, lost in her own world.

My mum always fought to make sure she would have a normal life, doing normal stuff, going to school like the other children. The other children didn’t bully her or anything. It was the contrary: they really caught her interest, and helped her socialize. Going to school was a very good thing for her.

Now she is almost 6 years old; she has had speech therapy, and can speak really well. She even has got a vocabulary richer than some children of her age. She has no trouble following at school, despite the fact that she still has some trouble having a long attention period. She plays with her friends and with my younger sister (something she never did before, usually she only tried to bite her), and I was even able to bring her to the cinema, where she behaved perfectly.

I just wanted to give you this message of hope. Of course it is not going to be easy, you will have to constantly face challenges, you will feel frustration, sadness. But autism is not a fatality, and Ryan can live a normal life, have a successful education and be happy.

The advice i could give you, is never to give up on anything. And remember that you don’t have to carry it all on your shoulders: each person of your family, your husband, your mother, even your brothers and small Alyssa can help you and Ryan.

Thank you for reading this.