From the time he was born, my son has been a curious little thing, and really, what did we expect? He is our kid. When two certified weirdos reproduce it is pretty much expected that their progeny also be weird, right? And O doesn't disappoint, he comes with his own set of quirks.
As a proud weirdo, I am even prouder to be raising a weird kid, but O isn't just weird, he is also incredibly strong willed. This makes being a parent quite challenging at times, but this has got to be my favorite quality about him. Although, I admit, it can be frustrating in the moment, I love that he challenges me. I love that doesn't do what anyone tells him just because they told him so, and that he says, "No!" with conviction. I am raising a revolutionary after all, and the first lesson in revolution is to challenge authority, even at 2 years old.
For this reason, among others, I have been so utterly baffled by the amount of apologies I have received from well meaning people when they've learned of his ASD diagnosis. Even before we had language to describe his sterotypies, and echolalia, and meltdowns, he still had them. Even now that we have language, he still is exactly the same wonderfully unique, strong-willed, wild child he always was. "Congratulations!" seems so much more appropriate!
"Congratulations on learning new language for your kid's behaviors!"
"Congratulations on now gaining access to support for the challenging stuff!"
"Congratulations! You're kid is exactly the same as he always was, but now you have an answer!"
But no one says, "Congratulations," all they seem to have in them is: "I'm sorry."
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