Hans Madsen – författare

Att få ett barn med autism är en av de mest omvälvande upplevelser man kan vara med om. Livet med svår autism skiljer sig drastiskt från ett vanligt familjeliv, och för oss innebar det dramatiska förändringar. Det som annars är självklart i ett barns uppväxt blev plötsligt bergslika hinder, där varje utmaning krävde all vår kraft och energi för att hitta fungerande lösningar. Den här boken beskriver resan från att ha ett autistiskt barn till de utmaningar som ungdomsåren och vuxenlivet förde med sig. Vår son tog andra vägar för att få hans vardag att fungera, och vi gjorde allt vi kunde för att hitta dessa vägar och följa honom. För att bli en del av hans liv fick vi bli beskyddare också av hans autistiska liv. Idag är vår son vuxen, och vi kan se tillbaka på ett liv fyllt av överraskningar, utmaningar och många misslyckanden, men också många segrar. Vi ville inte låta autismen isolera oss från det liv vi drömde om att uppleva tillsammans som familj. Autismen fick inte segra. Det blev vår tydliga målsättning, vår livsuppgift. För oss var det avgörande att autismen inte skulle definiera vår son, den var bara en del av honom. Bakom hans ögon fann vi en varm, glad, kärleksfull och alldeles underbar kille. Vi hittade vår son. Berättelsen börjar en vårdag 1993. En helt vanlig dag kan det verka som, men den här lördagen skulle förändra våra liv för alltid. Det liv vi hade hoppats på var nu för alltid borta. Vi visste det bara inte då.

Having a child with severe autism is one of the most transformative things you can ever experience. We love our son and want to give him the best life possible. And with the knowledge there was back then, there was a possibility his condition could improve, perhaps he could even start talking. We gave it everything. But 30 years later we have to acknowledge that he is exactly the same as he was then. He is still autistic with all that entails, he still has no speech. Was our fight in vain? Now looking back on 30 years of living with severe autism, we can share a story of a family that never gave up. We took all the fights that were necessary, and that we believed could help our son to have as good a life as possible, as a child and a youth, but also the hardest of them all, in adulthood. We achieved what was considered impossible, yes unimaginable. Our lives were not isolated from all the things we wanted to achieve together with our children. Autism was not allowed to prevail, that would be our clear goal, our life task. Autism would not be our son, but only a part of him. Behind his eyes, we found a happy, loving, and absolutely wonderful guy, we found our son. But that also came with a price. Were we able to live two such different lives? And what happened when his life wouldn't change? Could we change and give up our hopes and dreams? The story of autism contains so many different angles, and somehow, they all came together in our life. Science moved forward, and many answers were elaborated. It turned out that we had done so many things right. Still, there were so many losses. The story begins on a spring day in 1993. A normal day it may seem, but this Saturday our lives would change forever. The life we had hoped for would now forever be gone. We just didn't know it at the time.

När vår son fick diagnosen Infantil Autism var det en diagnos som inte var känd på samma sätt som den är idag. Vi fick därför själva lära os Autismens koder .Den kunskap vi förmedlar i boken är det vi ville ha vetat då.Jag beskriver också hur Autismen förändras eller rättare sagt hur vi fick hantera autismen i dem olika åldern. Från barn till ungdom till en vuxen individ, hur utmaningarna, som ändå var densamma, förändrades eftersom samma beteenden nu finns i en vuxen kropp.Samtidig var vi familjen som aldrig gav upp.

Having a child with severe autism is one of the most transformative things you can ever experience. We love our son and want to give him the best life possible. And with the knowledge there was back then, there was a possibility his condition could improve, perhaps he could even start talking. We gave it everything. But 30 years later we have to acknowledge that he is exactly the same as he was then. He is still autistic with all that entails, he still has no speech. Was our fight in vain?Now looking back on 30 years of living with severe autism, we can share a story of a family that never gave up. We took all the fights that were necessary, and that we believed could help our son to have as good a life as possible, as a child and a youth, but also the hardest of them all, in adulthood. We achieved what was considered impossible, yes unimaginable. Our lives were not isolated from all the things we wanted to achieve together with our children. Autism was not allowed to prevail, that would be our clear goal, our life task. Autism would not be our son, but only a part of him. Behind his eyes, we found a happy, loving, and absolutely wonderful guy, we found our son. But that also came with a price. Were we able to live two such different lives? And what happened when his life wouldn't change? Could we change and give up our hopes and dreams? The story of autism contains so many different angles, and somehow, they all came together in our life. Science moved forward, and many answers were elaborated. It turned out that we had done so many things right. Still, there were so many losses. The story begins on a spring day in 1993. A normal day it may seem, but this Saturday our lives would change forever. The life we had hoped for would now forever be gone. We just didn't know it at the time.