4. Make a follow-up appointment with the diagnosing doctor after you have done your research and prepare a list of questions. He may be able to point you to other services that he is aware of.
5. Call a social worker. There is a list of phone numbers for social workers in different departments in your phone book. Start with the department for Children and Families, or Special Needs Children and they shall point you in the right direction. Social workers can provide some services, like respite or they can get your child on a wait list for services through other organizations.
6. Join a parent support group. These groups usually meet once a month and can be a really good source of information. Phone numbers or contact information can be found in your phone book, or local parent magazine.
7. Talk to your friends, neighbours and other mothers that you know. I know that this is a hard one to do at first because you are still dealing with your feelings about having a special needs child, however, if you can get past that you may find tidbits of information that you haven't found out about through other avenues.
8. Visit the #autism chat room on the Internet. This is where I started after my weeks of research into the condition. I was very lucky and found another parent who lives in my area and she helped me get the ball rolling to obtain services for my child. When I first went into this chat room, I had more than a dozen questions and the parents there were extremely helpful in helping me sort out how I felt about the diagnosis and how to deal with the fact that I now had to advocate for my child in a way that was foreign to me.
There is one more thing you need to be aware of after the diagnosis. This particular diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome brings a huge challenge into your life and you can either accept this challenge, move onto the role of advocating constantly for your child, demanding services that you think your child needs, and becoming assertive when your child's rights are infringed upon, or you can just throw up your hands in despair and not cope! Personally, I was tempted to throw up my hands in despair and bury my head under a pillow, however, common sense told me that this wouldn't help my child at all. The strength and courage to deal with this condition is within you. You just need to take the first step.
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