The month of April is best known for the explosion of Easter Bunnies, obscene
amounts of chocolate as gifts for children and a magnificent feast to celebrate
the resurrection of Christ. To many people April is Easter, They plan, they
organise, many months in advance sometimes, Children have the time of their
lives, gorging on chocolate, receiving gifts from extended family members, but
to me, April is Autism Awareness month.
So to celebrate this, I am going to dedicate my blog for a whole month
to families who wish to share their Autism Journey with you. Some of these
people have autism themselves, some are autistic parents to autistic children.
We have teachers with autistic students and even Bloggers who want share their
journey with me, which I am very grateful for.
This is Riko, from Riko’s PDA Page, and this was one of the very first
blog pages about autism I ever came across. When researching some of her son’s
behaviours she came across autism and realised that a lot of thing also related
to her own behaviours. Here is a summary of Riko’s Journey.
Riko's Journey
I first found out about Autism when
googling help for my eldest son, I was struggling to manage him and turned to
the internet for anything that could explain why his behaviour was so different
from that of other kids. I came across Autism, having no
previous understanding of what it was, and quickly realised that what I
was reading not only described my son, but also myself. It wasn't difficult to
get a diagnosis for myself and although it took nearly two years to get a
diagnosis for my son, his wasn't difficult to get either. Despite Autism
explaining most of the why's of our behaviour, there was still something
missing. I continued to research, inhaling information on Autism and any other
condition I could find, wondering what the missing piece was. Then one day I
happened to watch 'Born Naughty' and the final puzzle piece was revealed, PDA
(pathological demand avoidance). More internet research and lightbulb moments
followed. My journey from ignorance to understanding might seem like a quick
one, but it isn't over yet, everyday I'm still learning and understanding. PDA
is the right fit for us and has made life so much easier. I no longer blame
myself for being unable to do certain things, now I know why I struggle and
have worked out ways around the issues. I've made many new friends and found my
clan. I've become known in the advocating world, started a blog and facebook
page and am making waves in the world to help others understand this little
known version of Autism. I may have finally found the place I belong, but my
journey has only just begun.
Thank you so much for sharing with us, I'm sure that many people will relate to your journey, and I'm glad that by finding the right fit your lives are so much easier now.
To follow Riko's Journey you can find them on FB:
To read more about Riko's Journey you can follow their blog page here:

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