Autism and the Effects on Families

Pierce1

Rebecca Pierce

Professor Lamb

Composition 101

8 October 2012

Autism and the Effects on Families

Dealing with a child diagnosed with autism not only affects the child, but the entire family as well. Autism and family relationships are intertwined and with a diagnosis of autism, family relationship dynamics are forever changed.

My life became a blur when my child was diagnosed with autism. The life of my family dramatically changed overnight. My days soon become full of research, making doctor appointments (and then getting to them) and several hours a week of applied behavioral analysis therapy and intense home programs. The life of my child and the life of my family became dominated by autism.

There was a change in the expectation of my child when he was diagnosed with autism. Even though I may not have verbalized the change in expectation, it was definitely on my mind. For instance, I naturally expected that my child would one day have a family of his own and the thought of anything less took my breath away.

Having a child diagnosed with autism put a strain on my marriage. I would often become sad and try to "mobilize" and try to "fix" the situation. On the other hand, my husband would tend to question or deny the diagnoses and retreat into his work. When we were no longer united, the first crack in the marriage appeared and divorce soon followed. Marriages that are put to the test of autism, fail to see that something as small as going out for a cup of coffee, or going for a stroll in the park, is the glue of the marriage.

My husband and I would pass the nights away worrying about the effect on the lives of our children without autism. There is a tremendous time commitment in providing the best care for a child with autism. With the weight of being the perfect parent on our shoulders, we struggled to disperse equal amount of time between the children. The siblings in the home sometimes became resentful of the child with the diagnoses and my living room became a like a Friday night high school wrestling match.

Also for siblings of the autistic, it is difficult to know how their brother or sisters are accepted by their friends or the community. My children would stress that their friends may not like, or even worse, make fun of their brother. My heart would break when the other boys excluded my autistic son, even

though I knew the toll of dealing with him was overwhelming to them. It was a huge adjustment for my children to realize their brother had autism.

Families with an autistic child often find it hard to hold on to family traditions. My son would thrive on a routine schedule therefore, family vacations,