Episode 14: Breakdown or Breakthrough

In this week’s episode, Erin and Terry open up about a summer that was one of the hardest times of their lives. Their beautiful son Harry was in pain he had no way of explaining, crying for 12 hours on end and hurting himself, and the whole summer felt like lockdown.

Erin talks about refusing to accept it was ‘just autism’, filming and writing down everything so the professionals would finally believe her. Terry explains what constant fight or flight really looks like for a nonverbal child, and they get into the physical side of autism that most people don’t realise; a body that simply can’t do what’s being asked of it.

They’re honest about what it did to their marriage too, from two completely different ways of coping to the day Erin watched her husband break down at the table, asking how much more they could take. And they face the hardest question of all; what if Harry needs care for the rest of his life?

Raw, emotional, and angry in parts, this is Erin at her most honest, with Terry doing his best to finish on a positive. As Erin says herself, everyone else thought she was having some sort of breakdown, but she was actually having a breakthrough.

Plus, a message for every parent who sent in advice over the summer. Erin has written down every bit of it!

Tell us in the comments: autism parents, what’s the one thing you wish every professional knew about who your child really is?

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