WTF Is “On the Spectrum”

There are moments in motherhood where you think you’re prepared – and then life hands you a diagnosis you’ve never even heard of. When Jack was first diagnosed with autism, I did what every terrified parent does: I dove into research like it was my new full time job. And I freaked myself out.

I read every symptom, every warning sign, every worst case scenario… and assumed all of it applied to him. I entered a world I wasn’t qualified to be in, armed with nothing but Google and panic. I built a medical Avengers team – neurologists, therapists, specialists -because if I didn’t understand the diagnosis, how could I advocate for my son?

At one point, I felt like the wicked witch in The Wizard of Oz, pedaling through a storm with toddler Jack in my basket, trying to outrun something I couldn’t even name.

And then one phrase kept showing up everywhere: “On the spectrum.”

I remember thinking, WTF does THAT mean?

Andy Shih, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer at Autism Speaks, explains it like this:

“The term ‘spectrum’ reflects the wide range of ways autism can present from one individual to another.”

That was the moment everything shifted.

I realized the spectrum wasn’t a prophecy – it was a range. A baseline. A starting point. It didn’t mean every symptom applied to Jack. It meant Jack would show me his spectrum, in his own time, in his own way.

So I stopped fighting the unknown and started listening to my son.

Over the years, I’ve learned that Jack’s abilities can change drastically. He was non verbal until he was seven – now at seventeen, he never stops talking. I’ve learned to be careful when I talk to parents of non verbal kids, because some individuals never speak. Spectrum.

Jack lacked hand strength for years. A teacher once told me he would probably never be able to write.
His response?

“Hold my juice box.”

Jack couldn’t ride a bike like the neighborhood boys – so Grammy got him a pedal go cart. He kept up. He built core strength. He learned grit. Spectrum.