My Son Is Not ASD!

My son has autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

He, himself, is not ASD!

Frankly, I am sick, tired, and extremely disappointed with the parents who continually refer to their child who has autism as being ASD by making statements such as "My son/daughter is ASD/PDD-NOS/Asperger's." When a friend or relative has cancer, do you say, "She is cancer?"

Just think about that one for a second.

Wake up, parents! How can we unite as a community and help one another when we do not agree on something as simple as semantics?

It is one thing for a person in the general population to mistakenly and ignorantly, but not necessarily excusably, refer to a child as ASD or as being ASD, but I feel it is quite another for a parent of one of these special children to refer to their own child in such a derogatory manner. And yes, in my opinion, such a reference does hold a negative connotation

I was once accused (by a relative, no less) as only seeing my child as autistic and nothing else. The person who made the accusation said it because my family's lives have come to revolve so much around autism. I do not deny that much of what we do and how we go about daily tasks is dictated by how we have adapted to having a child who has autism. Any parent of a child with special needs (not just autism) can attest to the challenges that come to the table in even the most minute details of everyday life.

Having said all that, I have never referred to Reiss as being ASD. And if I have or ever do, I welcome the slap in the face. Bring it.

Rant over. Next chapter...(The Story of Us, Taylor Swift)