If you’re child has received an autism diagnosis, you may feel like all of the hopes and dreams you had for your child’s future have ended. These feelings of guilt, grief and fear are normal for parents when they first discover their child is autistic. However, you need to know that you’re not alone and there is help out there for both you and your child.

To help you cope with the autism diagnosis, the following are 10 guidelines for you to take into consideration:

1. Don’t Panic – Feeling overwhelmed is natural at first, but this drowning feeling will pass. You need to remember autism – although a challenging condition – is not a life threatening illness. Autism isn’t the end of the world; take the time to calm down and rationally think things through.

2. Your child is still the same – An autism diagnosis doesn’t mean your child is any different than he/she was prior to your knowledge of his/her condition. A diagnosis has only provided you with the chance to better understand your child, so you can provide him/her with the support that will allow him/her to have the best life. The love you have for your child and all the good you see in him or her will remain their forever. No diagnosis can change that.

3. Educate yourself – Find out everything there is to know about autism. You can find information in books and articles in your local library, bookstore and online. The internet is a fantastic resource for autism.

4. Ask questions – don’t forget to address any questions or concerns you may have with your doctor.

» Read more: Autism Tips – Autism Diagnosis for Your Child, What to Do After All

An autism diagnosis can still be difficult to obtain despite the studies that have helped people better understand autism. The reason is because there are many factors that need to be considered when making a diagnosis.

First of all, there is more than one type of autism disorder and there are other disabilities that are closely related to autism such as Asperger’s Syndrome and Pervasive Development Disorder- Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS). Second, autism is particularly difficult to diagnose in young children, due to the fact that they are still developing speech and reasoning skills.

Therefore, since an autism diagnosis can be a challenge, as a parent, it is essential that you have your child’s development, social and communication skills properly evaluated and accessed by a doctor.

How is autism diagnosed? Usually an autism diagnosis is made when a person shows signs of 6 or more of 12 specific symptoms characteristic of the disorder. The 12 main symptoms are focused in three primary areas -

1. Social interaction – Autistics generally have little interest in others and pay little or no attention to those who may be present in the room with them, regardless of their age. They do not seek comfort if they are troubled or hurt and prefer to be on their own. On the other hand, autistics that do show an interest in social interaction have difficulty initiating contact with others and developing friendships. It is also common for an autistic to avoid eye contact.

2. Behavior – Most autistics find change and new situations to be incredibly stressful. In addition, they tend to develop unusual rituals or routines and repetitious physical gestures such as rocking back and forth, flapping the hands, etc.

3. Communication – It is estimated that 50% of those diagnosed with autism are unable to develop speech, and those who do cannot engage in long conversations unless they are based on extremely specific topics insisted upon by the autistic. Autistics often tend to echo words or phrases and have difficulty with pitch and changing the inflection of their tone.

There should be at least 2 symptoms present from social interaction, and at least one symptom from both behavior and communication for an autism diagnosis to be made. Hence, if a person exhibits some of the symptoms, but does not meet the criteria for an autism disorder, they may then be diagnosed with another similar disability such as Asperger’s syndrome or PDD-NOS.

The following are 5 tips parents can keep in mind when talking with a health care provider to ensure their child receives a proper evaluation:

1. Find out everything there is to known about autism – In order to talk to doctors and receive the most effective evaluation of your child, you need to educate yourself about autism and know what to ask. You should never seek an autism diagnosis if you have no idea what the condition is all about. This will make it easier for a doctor to generate a wrong diagnosis.

2. Analyze your child’s behaviour – Based on the information regarding social interaction, behaviour and communication above, carefully analyze and make note of your child’s behaviour in a journal. Study how your child interacts with others and present your findings to the doctor.

» Read more: Get An Autism Diagnosis – Why It Can Be So Difficult To Do

I’d like to discuss my feelings about biomedical interventions for Autism and talk about the reasons why I think it is important to begin a biomedical approach for your child. I lecture around the country and talk on these videos on my website about how important biomedical intervention is. But one thing to recognize is that when we look to implement a biomedical protocol whether that is through diet, supplements, etc, we are really assessing the underlying medical issues.

What that can entail is the use of diagnostic testing, urine, stool, blood, etc. in order to look for imbalances. The imbalances could be nutritional like vitamins and minerals, essential fats or amino acids. Or the imbalances could be biochemical or involve digestive problems. Kids may not be digesting their food appropriately and they may have chronic diarrhea or chronic constipation. So regardless of the diagnosis of the child, I think we can all agree that the right assessment is still needed. When we use a biomedical treatment approach what we really are doing is optimizing the individual’s potential.

» Read more: A Biomedical Approach – Autism Treatment