Benefits of Therapy & Autism 

Coming to terms with my diagnosis was a trouble-free experience to make sense of. My parents never hid my diagnosis or what they were doing from me, which helped tremendously unless it was a surprise. I was emotion driven and went into high gear at the slightest of things. My mom used to make me read a lot of books to help me understand how to deal with the working world of blending in without completely masking who I was. The place I was allowed to be myself in entirety was at home with my family. It still is one place that I can go to and not feel out of place. The times I went to therapy were not to change who I was on the inside but to change how I reacted to things that were beyond my control or understanding. 

My family always tried to set me on a path of success rather than being confined to a basement. When we’d go out, we’d have activities that flexed different mental muscles. Some involved monetary while others involved time management. My brother was always trying to get me to flex my imagination when we would spend time together. One thing my brother used to do with me to get me involved in playing together was extremely helpful in my growth and development. We would pretend to be knights of the round table as he was the knight, and I was the knight in training. It was enjoyable as we would pretend our house was various places of ye olden times. 

The thing with getting therapy for autistic individuals is to see what you can teach in the home before jumping into therapy itself. That may depend on the functionality of the individual in your care whether that be at home, school, daycare or other locations. My family was my first therapy group, and I couldn’t be happier. While I did end up getting other types of therapy in school, and later in my life for various mental health reasons; however, I will never forget the ones my family did to help me in my childhood as they will forever be my favorite memories.