I was recently asked during an Instagram Q&A if it was okay to tell mom friends that their child’s autism can be healed.
I know that the entire message of healing when paired with autism can be one that is met with incredible resistance. I know from experience that when you are given the autism diagnosis from a doctor it feels like the world just stopped spinning and yet, is spinning too fast for you to figure out what is right, wrong, up, or down. You believe what you are told because it’s too much for you to try to comprehend at that moment. What you are asking yourself is: Did I do something wrong? Did I fail as a mother? Why my child?
And in the medical community there is not a message of healing, it’s a message of accepting the diagnosis and defining your child by it because there is “no cure”. It’s talk of support and not recovery. It’s talk of preparing yourself for all the therapy, appointments, medications, and everything else to go along with it.
When I talk about healing, I’m not talking about a secret cure. I’m talking about taking back hope, taking back health, and taking back our power of bodily autonomy. As a parent, what we do matters.
So, is the message of healing okay to tell other moms who are dealing with an autism diagnosis for their child?
100%.
The moms who are ready to hear the message, are ready to hear it.
And yes, there will be some who are not ready to hear it. They’ll call you a liar or worse. They’ll say, “there’s nothing wrong with my child!”
If you have a message of healing, why silence it when it can be the answer and hope someone else desperately needs it?
Feelings are not facts. I’m sure you’ve heard that for many different circumstances and this one is no different. The fact is there are so many lies around the epidemic of autism. The fact is if another mom hadn’t risked our own friendship years ago and validated my own concerns, my family wouldn’t be where we are today.
There is a lot of shame and guilt when it comes to autism and with that comes knee jerk reactions of anger. It’s a projection of hurt. I did it once, too. I understand.
But I also understand the truth now and I feel it is my responsibility to not silence our story because it’s easier—not when children are being diagnosed with autism at alarming rates.
Stand in truth, friend.
