For Sefora Tabone, whose son, Diego, has autism, learning to deal with the life changes her son’s diagnosis brought about has been a constant struggle and challenge.
In a candid post on Facebook, shared to her blog yesterday called I am Diego, which documents her son’s journey, to mark World Autism Day, Sefora explained how three years ago, she and her husband Godwin received a diagnosis “that shook us to our core.”
Dealing with Diego’s diagnosis placed a strain on her marriage. “Autism almost broke our family. It took away most of our dreams. Godwin and I grieved in ways which made us grow apart. My life revolved around Diego, days and nights,” she wrote. “The thought of Diego not being able to provide for himself pushed Godwin to work even 80 hours a week at times.”
With perseverance and a lot of hard work, Sefora says that her family worked to take back “what autism has stolen from us.” However, the hardest part of all was having to let go of their dream of growing their family.
“By time we learnt to adapt, we learnt to let go of our dreams. The big dreams which you dream all your life. With the biggest one being that of having more kids,” she says. “We could never cope with the stress and all the expenses autism brings along for another time. It’s a risk I am not ready to take. This alone made my heart shatter to a thousand pieces. We let go of the ideas we once had and opened up to the new ones.”
Sefora adds how the struggles they face as a family don’t only relate to dealing with society. “Autism is also the heart wrenching pain only a parent can understand. A pain that no one can see, but it is always there all along.”
On the occasion of a world day dedicated to Autism and everyone on the spectrum, Sefora appealed for everyone to understand and accept all the differences autism brings along. “Once you embrace it with arms wide open, autism is a beautiful and unique aspect in children like Diego and adults on the spectrum.”