My Autistic son who we were told would never talk and needed to be in a specialised environment

[IncompleteSenten]

Is attending his graduation ceremony today, having got a 2.1 in games development.

He is my elder son and is now 24. He was diagnosed at two and a half with what was then called classic autism. We were told we needed to teach him makaton, that he wouldn't ever talk. When he was 7 he began to talk in small sentences. He was unable to potty train and we were told that this would not change, when he was 6 he came out of full time nappies, by the time he was 10 he was no longer having soiling incidents. He was explosively violent. We were told he needed to be in a special school. That we were unrealistic.

He drove to collect his gown in his own car and has no lectures this week for the master's he's currently doing.

I don't give a fuck that this is a boasty thread. He is amazing. He has worked so hard and defied expectations all his life and I want to shout it from the rooftops. I'd like to take his degree and his driving licence and wave it in the faces of the experts who constantly told us how delusional we were to even expect that one day he would look at us!

This is so lovely to read, congratulations to you both. I've had a rough morning getting my autistic daughter into the taxi to school. Gosh, I hope to one day be in your shoes making a post like this.

Bloody brilliant!!!
I can’t wait to see my ds graduate next summer.. he’s in his final year..
I was told ‘he won’t be worth anything’ when he was little… while I don’t think getting a degree is the be all and end all I would love to stick his degree certificate right into that consultants face!
Boast away, you deserve it because I know how much hard work you will have done to help get him to this stage.. enjoy every little moment of today, I bet your heart will just swell with pride

Your son is amazing. What a lovely post.

This has made me smile on a cold and low morning. Massive congratulations to your son (and well done mama, you should be proud as punch)

Not boasts at all! You are quite rightly very proud of your amazing son! As his parents, you should be very proud of yourselves. This is a brilliant story and you have made my day. Congratulations 🕺🏾🎉🎊❤️

Huge congratulations to your incredible son, and to you.

This post gave me goosebumps. You should be boasting forever and so should be x

And this is my favourite thread ever on Mumsnet -@IncompleteSenten (great user name btw).

Your son sounds amazing, you and he should be proud.

That's amazing! You must be very proud, my DC7 is also autistic, so this post has given me hope for the furture

Many, many congratulations to your son and you. Your post is wonderful and gives me so much hope for my little grandson who has just started a specialist school.

Future*

Gosh this has made me a bit teary! Congratulations and well done to you all. I bet you’re delighted, and it’s so deserved.

You shout it from the rooftops, and boast as much as you want!! Congratulations to your son & well done for never giving up hope.

I am a mother of an autistic non verbal boy, his 3 and half and currently not potty trained. He can't attend mainstream nursery full time and I've been told that he may need to go to a special school soon. This thread fills me with so much hope, I keep saying to my family that he will speak one day - I can feel it!

So thank you for reminding me that there is still some hope, from one parent to another ❤️

Oh this is wonderful news, huge congratulations to your son and you! It might have made me well up a little. 😍😍😍 Big hugs all round!

My DD is autistic and I worry so much about her, but this has given me a warm feeling that it might just be ok for her too.

Absolutely fantastic and brag and boast about it from the rooftops!

I'm a late-diagnosed autistic myself, with one diagnosed autistic daughter and another on the waiting list - had a fair few "ouch" moments from professionals with the diagnosed child who has smashed every expectation limit placed on her so far (that child has terrifying levels of tenacity)!

The comments about never talking reminded me of a client visit I did recently with the most wonderful autistic chap (we basically geeked out completely about video games for an hour in a wonderful information-dumping session) and his mum sat there looking incredibly bemused about this conversation that she'd lost the thread of completely and just laughing as she told me "wouldn't believe he was non-verbal completely till the age of 10 would you?!"

You have every right and justification to boast your head off! And to be as proud as you are! Heck, I am proud on your behalf.
Congratulations to your amazing young man, I hope that he is as proud of himself, as you are of him.

Fantastic story, this is what love can achieve. Well done to your awesome son and to you his awesome parents.

What a lovely post 😍 congratulations to all of you ❤️

What a lovely story OP, and so many lovely responses. Far from boasting, you've inspired a whole lot of exhausted parents this morning!

I will be showing this thread to my own 2 autistic DC later.

Many congratulations to your DS and you. Enjoy your day!

Absolutely bloody brilliant - hugest possible congratulations

Boast til you’re heart is content 🥰🥰

Congratulations to your son and your whole family! That is all so wonderful and I'm sure testament to the love and care and support he had from you growing up. You are deservedly proud of him.

You should brag. That’s fantastic

Oh that's wonderful - huge congratulations to you and your amazing son.

What a lovely post! Congratulations to your DS (and to you for never doubting him)

Congratulations 🎉👏