{"id":28142,"date":"2022-04-01T08:42:33","date_gmt":"2022-04-01T12:42:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthymindsphilly.org\/?p=28142"},"modified":"2023-04-04T15:23:47","modified_gmt":"2023-04-04T19:23:47","slug":"the-world-of-autism-diagnosis-reveal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthymindsphilly.org\/dev\/blog\/the-world-of-autism-diagnosis-reveal\/","title":{"rendered":"The World of Autism: Diagnosis Reveal"},"content":{"rendered":"

I remember it like it was an old sore and someone snatches off the scab! Thoughts of that day still pain me like it just happened. My gut was screaming. Something was not right despite my pediatrician saying everything will be ok \u2013 boys are slower than girls and he\u2019ll talk when he\u2019s ready. I thought: Who am I to question what I was being told? I mean; he is the doctor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t sleep the night before the diagnosis reveal. My brain was in overdrive. I felt relieved because I had been waiting for years, months, days \u2013 and now tomorrow for this appointment. I was terrified because I was afraid my motherly instincts would be confirmed. Finally, the attendant called my son\u2019s name and we went to the back.<\/span><\/p>\n

I watched as several people came in and out observing my son then writing down notes and talking to each other. Everything they were saying sounded like the adults in a Charlie Brown cartoon. I knew they were speaking English, but I had no idea what they were saying or what it meant. <\/span><\/p>\n

Although they introduced themselves, I felt irrelevant \u2013 like they talked at me, not to me. They would ask me questions and then write something in their notes and then they went back to trying to interact with my son again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Afterward I was told we could wait in a room and someone would be in shortly. \u201cShortly\u201d felt like eternity and finally a psychiatrist \u2013 at that point I don\u2019t know what his title was because I had encountered so many people with titles that day \u2014 came to speak to me. <\/span><\/p>\n

He said, \u201cYour son has autism.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I can see my expression clear as day because I\u2019m not good at holding a poker face. I\u2019m sure I looked confused and angry. Confused because I knew something was not right. And I felt betrayed and lied to by my pediatrician. I kept hearing “autism” like it was echoing in the room although it was only said once.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m now waiting for someone to explain what this new word meant; and at that moment I had no idea that it was going to change our lives and the way we lived forever.<\/span><\/p>\n

I remember leaving feeling numb, like the world around me was functioning normally and I was stuck in a bubble. As much as I wanted it to pop, I knew it was a safe space and I wasn\u2019t ready to interact with the world \u2013 not at that moment, that day, or ever.<\/span><\/p>\n

Michele Abraham-Montgomery is a Family Peer Specialist providing self efficacy, empowerment, advocacy, and resource information to families for over 20 years. She is the co-founder of Spectrum Success 911 alongside her son Khylil Robinson, who is proudly working as a Community Autism Peer Specialist. Spectrum Success 911 is a nonprofit that supports families and individuals living with autism and mental health differences.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I remember it like it was an old sore and someone snatches off the scab! Thoughts of that day still pain me like it just happened. My gut was screaming. Something was not right despite my pediatrician saying everything will be ok \u2013 boys are slower than girls and he\u2019ll talk when he\u2019s ready. I thought: Who am I to question what I was being told? I mean; he is the doctor.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t sleep the night before the diagnosis reveal. My brain was in overdrive. I felt relieved because […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":28180,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[996,991],"tags":[994,20,917],"class_list":["post-28142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-autism","category-intellectual-disability","tag-asd","tag-autism","tag-spectrum"],"yoast_head":"\nThe World of Autism: Diagnosis Reveal - Healthy Minds Philly\u00ae<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The World of Autism: Diagnosis Reveal - Healthy Minds Philly\u00ae\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I remember it like it was an old sore and someone snatches off the scab! Thoughts of that day still pain me like it just happened. My gut was screaming. Something was not right despite my pediatrician saying everything will be ok \u2013 boys are slower than girls and he\u2019ll talk when he\u2019s ready. I thought: Who am I to question what I was being told? I mean; he is the doctor.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t sleep the night before the diagnosis reveal. My brain was in overdrive. 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