In Heart-Warming New Clip, Mom Says A Diagnosis Of Autism Is Not To Be Feared

Sep 09, 2021 by apost team

Laura Clery is a comedian, actress and author, but her greatest role is as a mother. Clery and her husband, Stephen Hilton, have two kids and love to share their silly outlook on life through videos on Instagram and YouTube. In September 2021, Clery shared a video about her son, Alfie, who is 2-years-old and was just diagnosed with severe autism. 

In the video, you see photos and footage of Alfie playing and exploring while Clery shares their story in a voice-over. The mom says that after her son turned 2, he stopped speaking and had a hard time making eye contact. At one point, he even stopped smiling altogether. This sudden change in behavior worried the parents, and they took Alfie to see a doctor.

The first doctor told the couple that their son was just “spoiled” and “speech delayed,” but Clery knew there was more going on. She began to search online for information about Alfie’s characteristics and behavior, and all roads led her back to autism. After seeing a different doctor, Alfie was diagnosed with severe autism. The term “severe” in this context means that the child would need substantial assistance in everyday life.

Clery admits to initially being frightened and confused with the diagnosis, but as she began to learn more about autism and listened to first-hand accounts from autistic people, her views began to change. Now, Clery is an advocate for autistic children and shares the message that their differences are meant to be celebrated and not feared. Keep reading to learn more about Clery’s video.

Both Clery and Hilton wanted to share the story of their son’s diagnosis with their fans and express their love and support for Alfie. In the video posted to Instagram, the mother said:

"I always knew he was quirky ... I mean, obviously, look at his parents. But just after his second birthday, we noticed something ... more. He hadn't said 'Mama' in a while ... or 'Dada' or 'Papa' or 'milk' or 'shoes' or 'Grandma.’ The words he once knew were suddenly gone, or on the back burner for some reason, I still will never understand," she said, as her voice filled with emotion.

Alfie’s change in behavior was so sudden that Clery and her husband were understandably worried. "He stopped looking at us, stopped playing with us, stopped calling for us ... We were suddenly struggling to connect with the boy we once knew," she elaborated.

Clery admits to not knowing much about autism before researching Alfie’s behaviors. She asks in the video about autism: "Disability, disorder, difference, condition ... What is it? Is this to be feared or celebrated, or both?"

The term “severe” really had an effect on the mom. Clery said with emotion in her voice, "'Severe,' according to the dictionary, is an intense amount of bad or undesirable. But that's not at all what Alfie is to me. If anything, he's intensely creative, curious and affectionate. He has a hunger to learn and connect and explore. He sees the world in a different way than most, and what a gift that is. Nothing about him is 'bad' or 'undesirable.'"

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Even the Center for Disease Control has a skewed perception of autism, according to Clery.

"The CDC says that it's a developmental disability that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges. But I'm wondering why they left out the fact that autism can also cause an incredible ability to think logically, to memorize and learn information quickly. That it could cause exceptional honesty and reliability, alternate problem-solving and an incredible sense of wonderment about the world," she asked.

Clery knows that it doesn’t matter how talented or intelligent someone is because everyone deserves to be loved for who they are. "Let me make this clear, we are all equally valuable, just simply because we exist," Clery said. "I want him to feel joy, appreciated, safe, accepted, for exactly who he was meant to be."

"My son is just different ... not less," Clery declared at the end of her video. "And I wouldn't have him any other way."

The video has over 2 million views on Instagram and many people stopped to share comments about their own experiences. One person wrote, "I‘m autistic, and I don‘t think of it as a disability. I‘m just wired differently. But I‘m awesome. And so is Alfie! He is and will always be awesome!"

Successful writer Tee Franklin added: "I just wanna let you know, that this diagnosis isn’t the end of the world or road for Alfie. I’m autistic and I’m currently writing the newest Harley Quinn series for DC Comics & I’m a TV writer. I’m not gonna give any advice, but I know you got this."

Clery is still learning every day how best to help her son, but now she has her entire community of fans behind her.

Were you moved by this video? What do you think about Clery’s approach to her son’s diagnosis? Let us know, and be sure to send this on to your loved ones.