Where Are You In Your Autism Journey?

Today, I had an acquaintance contact me and another mutual friend. It was to introduce another parent who had a child with autism, in the hope that we might be able to offer some wisdom etc...
My other friend did a solely therapeutic route - her son is doing very well, but still has a diagnosis (barely). Her son is engaged, funny and bright. She has done a wonderful job in both meeting her son's needs and advocating for him and I respect her immensely.
I on the other hand, took a biomedical and therapy route. It worked well for us, but there is no guarantee that every child would do as well using an identical protocol. Our son had specific needs, which we tried our best to meet.

Here's one thing though that helped enormously. I met and bonded with some girls who were at the same stage I was. We all had preschool-aged children, all of which had been diagnosed on the autism spectrum. I needed that. They needed that. We are still good friends. Our children are all doing well, regardless of which approach we took - because we all took the approach that fit our child best. One of these girls is my mutual friend referred to above.

The new parent we were introduced to is not at the same stage we are and whilst I like to share that vision for hope for her child, I am just not in that place anymore. I cannot hand hold. I cannot guide her through, nor do I think that would be the best thing for her.

Autism is a journey. You learn and grow with your child as you both travel it. From a medical standpoint, it's like peeling an onion. Things show at different stages, and as some things are addressed, others become apparent. If you try to fix everything at once, it just doesn't work - you don't know what's working and what isn't.

From where we are now, the best advice I can offer is to read and find a buddy (or two). It sounds a little mean maybe, but, it's the starting point. We all need friends. We need to know we're not alone in something, especially something as big as autism. But, we must travel that journey ourselves, someone else cannot do it for you.