Parent of Newly Diagnosed Child
TEN THINGS TO DO FIRST #6 Take Care of Your Family and Yourself
If any of these items should be done first and continuously it is this one! Make sure that you take care of yourself, emotionally, spiritually and physically. Eat right, get exercise, take a break from “all autism all the time”. Connect with your spouse. Marriages are often a casualty of autism and a little attention to your relationships can go a long way to maintaining a needed support system for you and for your child. Find friends who are sympathetic, but who will also allow you (or force you as the case may be) to get out of the house and out of “autism world”. Don’t forget siblings, keep them in the loop, but allow for their feelings, too. Support groups for siblings are available and are often helpful. Remember you are a family first.
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TEN THINGS TO DO FIRST
