Just Popping In my Head to say Hi!

I'm 33, mother of five children, four of whom have disabilities. Only the eldest, my fourteen year old son, has Autism. He was diagnosed at 2 and a half years old, nearly two years of struggle to get someone to pay attention to my concerns.

I guess what made me decide to post here at all was all the posts I saw from parents dealing with new diagnoses. There is a lot of help out there today, so much more so than when my eldest was first diagnosed, and a support group (like thie one or a face to face one in your community) is a GREAT place for warehousing information and getting help as well as support.

Know also that no matter how severe your child's diagnoses, there is always hope. We were told we'd be lucky if my son learned to speak. Now, after years of hard work that I am NOT at all trying to minimize, he is in a mainstream classroom on the honor roll in high school and though he's quite obviously still autistic, I have much hope for the future that he is mapping out for himself.

I am always happy to lend support, swap stories and/or just be a shoulder, for any mom or dad who needs one. My name is on lists with doctors, community resourse organizations, and school systems as a support contact in my community ... and this is just a new forum for me.

MammaT