First things first, just breathe. You just got a big word thrown at you and it’s a lot. My son has a mild/moderate autism diagnosis. While it’s very hard to hear, an autism dx isn’t the end of the world. It’s a developmental disability that affects social, communication, and sensory processing. It’s a spectrum that varies with each child and it affects boys more than girls and girls present differently. Speech, feeding, social skills, ability to do things like write, ride a bike, etc can be a challenge, textures on everything from food to clothes can be an issue as well. My son was scared of leaves for a while, he wouldn’t eat protein, he didn’t really talk until he was 4, didn’t fully potty train until he was almost 5.

Now that you have a diagnosis, you need all the referrals you can get. You may have already gotten them with your son’s dx, not sure where you are and each state does it differently. Have him evaluated for speech, occupational therapy and if he’s having issues with eating, look into feeding therapy. Get all of those evaluations done and set a schedule of those services that he needs. Some kids go through ABA which is applied behavior analysis which basically helps teach all kinds of skills to be able to adapt and communicate. It’s been very effective for my son, we do it in home vs a center since his preschool program was already ABA based so this way he got it in both environments.

Right before he turns 3 say 1-2 months before you can call your school district and tell them you have a child on the spectrum and you need them to be academically tested for preschool placement when he turns 3. That way he’s getting preschool time in while getting the services he needs.

I only have one kiddo myself and it’s a lot of hard work. It’s a lot of good days and bad days. You caught it earlier than many of us did and that’s a good thing. Early intervention is extremely helpful moving forward. I have very long days but to see the strides my little guy is making daily makes it worth it!

Have patience with yourself, he’s going to make strides at his own pace. In the meantime make sure you take care of yourself, seek help if you need it with processing the situation. Many of us see a therapist because a child with a developmental disability is challenging and we too need coping skills. It’ll all fall into place with time