Gosh, where to start I'm going to try and make this short but it probably wont happen. I have twins Tyson and Lilian, they will be 5 years old in December. My son has always been behind my daughter when it comes to development, they were born premature and spent time in the NICU. Last school year I got them both into the head start program (preeschool). They did great and loved it, although I noticed my son had a lot issues with his speech so I got in touch with the resources in the community and had his speeches assessed by a specialist. They agreed that he needed some speech therapy. When the kids started school this year in September, everything went down hill. He started acting out, things that were manageable before become very difficult for him. Even spilling any type of food or liquid on himself was very upsetting and his anger grew when it came to problem solving(when toys don't work a certain way/gravity doesn't allow it), grinding his teeth in sleep. Hand flapping when very excited/stimulated. I knew there was something going on with him. I tried to talk to my boyfriend about it (they aren't his kids but I am currently 18 weeks with his first child, and we have been together 3 years) he kept turning down my thoughts and feelings about it. Same exact thing with my Mom and Dad. So I've been dealing with this on my own, trying to figure out what's going on to make the day a good one instead of bad for him, but most days are bad. Today I had a meeting at the school with a behavior councilor and his teachers. She confirmed what I had been expecting this whole time. That my son is on the spectrum of autism. Apart of me feels happy that I wasn't just dreaming it up in my head and that now I have proof and can get everyone on board with helping and of course tools for me to help him. But another part of me feels so broken, I want my kids to have ghe best life and it hurts to think something is wrong with my child. It feels like one of the worst days of my life. And I know that I am not alone in this, that many other parents have gone through this exact same thing. Any words of encouragement would be much appriciated.