about path was a bit different. Following the diagnosis of her daughter, autism.” Grace’s she originally felt like she finally belonged somewhere. She soon discovered otherwise. What I realize at that time was that just having the diagnosis mean didn’t doesn’t you need to involve yourself in the community in order “belong” anywhere. You to feel a part of it. So, about a year after her diagnosis, I started looking for a support group. I found this Autism Support Group through the Children’s Guild Foundation online, and I started been going ever since. going. I’ve While Crystal and Rachel had both been given information about the support group through other community resources they used, Grace recognized her need to belong to a support group. These different experiences in finding the support group may relate to the experiences each mother had prior to joining the support group. Although Crystal and Rachel both felt somewhat isolated, the feeling of isolation reported by Grace was much higher than that reported by the other two mothers. All three mothers found that the support group provided them with exactly the sort of atmosphere and support they had been looking for. When asked what the most important part of being a part of the support group was, Crystal offered several reasons: like you that they stand for the right “Feeling belong,” “Knowing thing,” “They don’t discriminate. They’re accepting of all and turn you away because people,” “They don’t For Crystal, the idea of inclusion and belonging within the group was you’re different.” extremely important, especially because following her diagnosis she was being kept son’s of the by her doctor. She described the support group as way to keep “out loop” son’s “a me from being me know I isolated…to let wasn’t alone.”
about autism.” Grace’s path was a bit different. Following the diagnosis of her daughter, she originally felt like she finally belonged somewhere. She soon discovered otherwise. What I didn’t realize at that time was that just having the diagnosis doesn’t mean you “belong” anywhere. You need to involve yourself in the community in order to feel a part of it. So, about a year after her diagnosis, I started looking for a support group. I found this Autism Support Group through the Children’s Guild Foundation online, and I started going. I’ve been going ever since. While Crystal and Rachel had both been given information about the support group through other community resources they used, Grace recognized her need to belong to a support group. These different experiences in finding the support group may relate to the experiences each mother had prior to joining the support group. Although Crystal and Rachel both felt somewhat isolated, the feeling of isolation reported by Grace was much higher than that reported by the other two mothers. All three mothers found that the support group provided them with exactly the sort of atmosphere and support they had been looking for. When asked what the most important part of being a part of the support group was, Crystal offered several reasons: “Feeling like you belong,” “Knowing that they stand for the right thing,” “They don’t discriminate. They’re accepting of all people,” and “They don’t turn you away because you’re different.” For Crystal, the idea of inclusion and belonging within the group was extremely important, especially because following her son’s diagnosis she was being kept “out of the loop” by her son’s doctor. She described the support group as “a way to keep me from being isolated…to let me know I wasn’t alone.”