We’ve all heard of cutiepie Diego and his super mama Sefora who raises awareness about autism through her blog I Am Diego. In her latest post on Facebook, she brings forward a sweet and truthful message about kids with autism and what it’s like living with this condition.

“‘He doesn’t look autistic.’ ‘Are you sure he’s autistic?’ ‘He’ll outgrow it you’ll see.’ ‘He’s just a little hyper.’ ‘What a shame he’s so cute miskin.’ ‘But he talks.’ ‘At least he’s healthy, he has nothing compared to others.’ These are just a few of the comment we get on a daily basis,” she begins. “The purpose for this page in the first place is to raise awareness and to lend you all our shoes, so you can walk a dozen steps in them.”

Sefora gets down to the real feelings that every parent wants to tell someone spurting out the above comments. “This is what we really want to tell you when we smile back at you and say nothing. […] ‘No, he doesn’t look autistic, you don’t look stupid either.’” She says there is no point in trying to explain it to someone who states such comments because they “will never understand.”

“Yes, I am sure he is autistic. I didn’t wake up in the morning and decided to label my child. We have sat down infront of tens of specialists and answered to the same questions a million and ten times in order to get a diagnosis. And even if all the specialists reassured us that he really is on the spectrum, we still hope that someone says that he has nothing at all,” she admits.

And while at times, it may be hard dealing with autism, Sefora shares the heartfelt truth about the beauties in autism. “He is not a miskin. He is a little boy, growing up to be an honest fine little man. He sees the world just as it is, with no hidden agenda. He sees beauty in everything, unlike others.”

She also says that while he has different capabilities, he sees things through a different lens. “Yes, he talks, but that is echolalia. He is not able to make a conversation or answer a simple question such as what’s your name. But he is able to remember a whole movie, word by word, after watching it twice.”

Closing off, Sefora says that while it does get difficult at times, Diego is still a healthy boy and there are worse things in life. “Thank God, yes he is healthy. But autism still brings its hardships and heartache. If you had to loose your pinky finger, you would still feel its loss, even though there are people who lost their arm entirely.”

I Am Diego / Facebook