There is Much More to My Kid Than Just the Autism Label

A mommy blogger named Mandy Farmer wrote in her May 31, post about her sentiments regarding the autism label. Her blog is entitled, Beyond The Label, We Are More. In her blog, she thinks that people ought to look beyond the label. All this mom wanted to do is to help people be aware of the condition that it does exist, but it should not be feared.

Autism has been trapped into a stigma. This has caused people unaware of the condition to be scared about the label known as autism when it shouldn't be.

Although she cannot fault other parents of their life's personal decision. She is aware that there are parents who are ashamed and keep their child's diagnosis a secret. There are also parents who would refuse to diagnose their kids even if they have an inkling that something is not normal with him. They think that if their child's condition is not documented, it doesn't exist.

Though these parents may have all the best intention of doing their best for their child. How much benefit can a denial have? To Mandy Farmer, a label is just letting her child get access to the services and education the child needs. At first she said that her family was hesitant about being open regarding her son's condition. She recalled, it was not about the fear of the diagnosis she was more concerned about his privacy.

She hopes that when her child gets to go to school, his teacher will try to get to know her child better. That she will look past the label and let his personality shine through. Just like she would with her other students.

Deciding about being open about her son's diagnosis, she is a proud mom of a child with autism. She also hopes that her son will be proud of himself as well. As the world famous autistic Temple Grandin has put it, "We are different, but not less."