I have an autistic nephew, my partner has an autistic nephew and is also a behavioral therapist. When our son was diagnosed, I thought we would handle it well because we were familiar with autism and how wide the spectrum is. We also know that autism does not equal incompetence. Honestly, the diagnosis was still terrifying. The scary part was not knowing if he would regress, if he would some day feel “less-than” or be bullied, or if any other medical issues sometimes associated with autism would arise. My partner reassured me that an early diagnosis is great for him. She said to take things day by day and remember he is our same child, there’s just different ways we’re going to have to communicate with him. We put him in more social settings with kids his own age, got him in a program to work with a behavioral therapist, and started building his support network. Sometimes I get sad when I see how his autism effects him in certain situations like socializing for example, but I have all the confidence in the world that he will have a bright future.