The First 30 Days After an Autism Diagnosis - What You Must Do
LOONEY-First-30-DaysThe First 30 Days After an Autism Diagnosis - What You Must Do
David Looney
10 pages plus cover. This booklet contains the following:
How Parents Turn Uncertainty into Strength and Advocacy
So one month has passed since you heard the phrase that no parent wants to hear: “Your child has autism.” I know the feeling, the fear, and the frustration you are experiencing. I have walked in those shoes, and it hurts, but I also know that the diagnosis is not the hard
part; the uncertainty is. Here is the truth: nothing about your child changed on that day. The child that you have loved from the minute of conception is still the same child today. What did change is that you now have a name for how your child’s brain works, and that name gives us direction. You may feel fear. You may feel grief. You may feel relief. All of that
is normal, but if you remember nothing else, please remember this: an autism diagnosis is not a prediction of limitation. It is a roadmap for support that you have already started navigating, and you are not alone.
So one month has passed since you heard the phrase that no parent wants to hear: “Your child has autism.” I know the feeling, the fear, and the frustration you are experiencing. I have walked in those shoes, and it hurts, but I also know that the diagnosis is not the hard
part; the uncertainty is. Here is the truth: nothing about your child changed on that day. The child that you have loved from the minute of conception is still the same child today. What did change is that you now have a name for how your child’s brain works, and that name gives us direction. You may feel fear. You may feel grief. You may feel relief. All of that
is normal, but if you remember nothing else, please remember this: an autism diagnosis is not a prediction of limitation. It is a roadmap for support that you have already started navigating, and you are not alone.
Dr. David Looney is a native of Memphis, Tennessee, and has lived in Jackson, Tennessee
since 2016. He has been married to his wife Kay for over 40 years. They have two daughters, Hope and Paige (Wyatt, husband Cody).
since 2016. He has been married to his wife Kay for over 40 years. They have two daughters, Hope and Paige (Wyatt, husband Cody).
He is a 1986 graduate of the Memphis School of Preaching and graduated from Freed–Hardeman University in 2007 with a B.S. in Bible and in 2009 received a M.A. in Ministry. Dr. Looney received his Doctor of Ministry in Family Therapy in 2018 from Amridge University.
Dr. Looney taught Advanced Clinical Psychopathology in the DBH program at Freed-Hardeman University for four years and taught a class on “Death and Dying” for six years in the Department of Behavioral Sciences.
Dr. Looney taught Advanced Clinical Psychopathology in the DBH program at Freed-Hardeman University for four years and taught a class on “Death and Dying” for six years in the Department of Behavioral Sciences.
He has been a featured speaker at Polishing the Pulpit for a number of years. He and his wife Kay have provided counseling for those attending this conference for the last 12 years. He has served the Bolivar (Tennessee) Fire Department as Chaplain since 2009. For
forty years, he has served as a minister for the churches of Christ in Tennessee and Mississippi.
forty years, he has served as a minister for the churches of Christ in Tennessee and Mississippi.
As a father of an autistic child, Dr. Looney is uniquely qualified to conduct seminars on autism and to counsel with families who have a child on the autism spectrum.
