THE SCHOOL MEETING

Now that we had an official diagnosis of ASD, we had to meet with the school and reveal the truth.  We felt that the school was going to take an "I told you so" attitude.  I thought that once the school had this diagnosis that Jacob would be segregated from the other kids.  That he would be looked at funny or picked on.  That wasn't the case.  The school was very supportive of our situation.  I thought the school had an ulterior motive about the whole thing.  But, they didn't.  It turned out that all the school wanted to do was get Jacob the help he needed.  Boy did I feel foolish.

Then the school documented and went over with us all the support Jacob was going to receive.  He gets a full time EA that won't change, an IEP or independent education program, he'll get help with his verbal outbursts, his handwriting and his emotional needs would be taken into consideration.  Then I apologised.  I expressed my feelings of betrayal and distrust.  The school forgave me right away.  It turned out they really wanted to help Jacob?  But, why did I feel so differently?  The reason the school took such a hard line approach was because so many parents are in denial about autism like I was.  But, some parents are unwilling to accept advice or diagnoses.  This is the worst thing a parent of a child with ASD can do.  It wasn't a personal shot at me like I thought.  Nor was it a side effect of poor parenting.  Jacob was born with aspergers.  He didn't contract it like the flu, he was just wired differently.  I understand that parents may be in denial about ASD.  Every parent thinks their child is perfect.  So do we.  I realised something just recently, that made me feel good about ASD.  If educated and taught properly, ASD can give a child something special.  Jacob reads at a 3rd grade level.  He uses the computer more fluently than I do sometimes.  I then saw aspergers as a gift we had been given.  It turns out that many people with autism go on to do extraordinary things.  Although I felt this way about Jacob's life, IO began to wonder what this meant for me personally.  Do I have ASD or aspergers?