Yesterday was a special day for my daughter and I. I had the privelige of watching my daugher complete the mile long Autism Speaks Walk in Tampa. It was special because my daughter has Autism. As a toddler she was misdiagnosed as being borderline retarded, it took another 35 years for the medical profession to get it right.

The reason she was misdiagnosed is that in the '70s the medical profession only acknowledged one form of Autism. It was the most severe type. It was the type suffered by children who slamed their heads against the wall, refulsed to make eye contact and had no oral communication skills. Because Chantel could talk and didn't show the traditional symptoms they never even considered Autism as a diagnosis.

There were 6000 people at the Tropican Field Arena yesterday, and I spoke to several who had lived the same diagnosis with a loved one.Years of psychotropic drugs for mental illness that didn't exist, years of bullying from so called "normal" kids who picked up their attitudes from ignorant parents and other adults, and parents being threatened with loosing their children because they stopped administering medications that didn't work and made their children act like "zombies" 

Even some of my family members critized me for continueing to find the truth of my daughter condition. One even suggested "if you beat her ass, she'll listen". With the right diagnosis Chantel could have enjoyed a much different childhood.

I will always thank God for giving me the stubernness and courage to ignore them.