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How Autism Diagnosis affects families.

Most parents described different situations that made them think their child was not developing typically. Parents began to notice their children were developing differently between the ages of a year and a year and a half. Each parent experienced visiting at least two or more professionals before having their child officially diagnosed. After hearing the diagnosis, the parents felt many different emotions. Though it gave some parents a sense of relief, hearing the official diagnosis was inevitably depressing. Two of the parents felt sadness when they thought about their child not being able to live a normal life. One couple felt sad thinking about how their child was the only one of 36 grandchildren to have special needs. A statement from the literature review can be easily related to how the parents that were interviewed felt. Experts on the treatment of autism (Koegel & LaZebnik, 2004, p. 5-6) said, "Over the years, I have talked with thousands of parents of children with autism, and I can tell you that getting the news is horrific, terrifying, stressful and, depressing."