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Life-Changing Diagnosis

By Dena Isaacs

My official journey with autism started four days before my 31st birthday, but looking back, I realize now that my experiences with autism started well before my 30s dating back to my childhood.

Growing up, I always asked my mom, “Why me?” Why was I having a hard time socially and suffering from anxiety and depression among other things? I also engaged in self-injurious behavior by banging my head on the floor and against the wall when I was a toddler. Some interesting traits I have are my ability to remember every single family members’ (and other important people’s) birthdays, my obsession with Disney, and my passion for putting together Excel spreadsheets and figuring out the formulas for them.

Until my sister-in-law founded a nonprofit for people and families affected by communicative disorders including autism, my family didn’t know much about autism spectrum disorder or SARRC. This is what ultimately started a conversation among my family about the possibility of me having autism.

At the time, thinking about the prospect of autism was upsetting, especially the stigma that I felt would come with it. But today, I couldn’t be more thankful for my support system — my mom, immediate family and therapist who all helped guide me through the possibility of a potential diagnosis.

Leading up to my formal evaluation at SARRC, I did research; the more research I did on autism, the more I was like, “Yeah, that sounds like me,” and I became more comfortable with the idea of a potential diagnosis.

When the time came, my mom and brother accompanied me for my evaluation. I was with the main psychologist who did some tests with me and asked me to do various things while my family was with another psychologist giving them some of my history.

A month later, my mom, dad, brother and sister-in-law all joined me for the follow-up. When the main psychologist told us that I did indeed have autism, both my mom and I were emotional; it was my answer to why I was the way I was growing up, and it was a huge relief to finally have some answers.

It has been eight years since my diagnosis, and while I have accomplished a lot in that time, I am proud of my personal and professional
accomplishments prior to my diagnosis. Before my diagnosis, I graduated from Northern Arizona University with a degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management then moved to Orlando, Fla. I lived there and worked at Walt Disney World for four and a half years before moving back home to Phoenix. Once I got settled in a new job, I moved into my own apartment for a few years before buying a condo.

It took me time to tell my extended family and friends about my autism, but they were all extremely supportive once I did. In 2022, I told my story to a group of strangers during a SARRC event. While sharing my story, I was much more comfortable than I thought I would be; my parents and I got great feedback from the attendees as well. One couple asked me what they would recommend their daughter with autism do in her upcoming first year of college to help make friends and be more comfortable on her own at school, and I recommended she join a sorority or community service organization. The next SARRC event I saw them at, they told me she joined a sorority and was loving it, and she continues to be enjoying it (I look forward to seeing them every year at SARRC’s YES Day Walk for Autism! and always ask them about their daughter).

I feel like there are fewer stigmas around a diagnosis now than when I first learned of a potential diagnosis because it is being talked
about more, and there are more resources for those with autism and their families. Professionally, I am the sales and marketing coordinator at Sanctuary Camelback Mountain and serve on SARRC’s Self-Advocate Advisory Board.

I credit a great support system that includes my parents, brother, sister-in-law, 12-year-old nephew, 10-year-old niece, and an amazing boyfriend
of 3.5 years for helping me navigate life. Being diagnosed with autism has changed my life for the better and I couldn’t be happier.

I am proud to be able to share my experiences so openly and hope to be able to encourage others with autism to do the same and inspire more conversations toward continuing to improve the stigmas around autism.

Dena Isaacs is a member of SARRC’s Self-Advocate Advisory Board and was diagnosed with autism at age 31.

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