I love my mom, but we just don't see eye-to-eye on certain things.  I know she means well, but she upset me so much.  She's been reading that book by Jenny McCarthy.  She just called me, talking about 'curing' Jonathan!!!  She knows how I feel about this.  She knows that I don't see it as a 'disease' to be cured.  I see it as a personality.  I know she loves him, but now I almost feel like she expects him to be just like everyone else.  I don't want him that way.  He's a wonderful kid, and he is the light of my life!  What's wrong with being different?   Sure, it's challenging, and financially it's draining- but c'mon!  No one said being the mother of an autistic child would be easy.  I didn't sign up for this, but God gave him to me, and I accept my gift of being his mother with confidence that I can do this.  I feel that I should embrace his differences, support his strengths, and help him to work on improving his weaknesses.  But CURE him???  And what, make him just like every other kid out there???  NO WAY!  This one's mine, and he is special in his own way, just as all children are special.  His future isn't hopeless.  I know it isn't.  In fact, I just met a very nice man here on DS who has autism, and he's in college and is married.  Autism isn't a death sentence, and he can and WILL lead a normal productive life as an adult.  I just have to work a little harder to get him to that point.  I wish I could explain these things to my mom.  But, I can't.  She loves Jonathan just as I do, we just see autism differently.  He means as much to her as he does to me.