Sarmiento explains that, in order to rule out the fact that Iñaki had an intellectual disability, it was necessary to carry out a test, the results of which had to be analyzed in the United States and then diagnose it until a month later, month that Rafa describes as “hell.” “Fortunately, the test came back negative.
“The description of that month is complicated. Even now, looking back, it’s hard for me to think about it and remember it. It was just the Christmas and winter holidays I took with my family. In the middle of a flight, I had an uncontrollable panic attack that Jimena managed to control and control.
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It was unbearable and simply impossible for me to maintain my health. I was terrified of what could happen, mean or define in our lives and ways. I saw the child more and more lost in himself and in a complete disconnection from the environment. It hurt me, it caused me anxiety, anger and countless doubts, guilt, questions and torments “, he says.
Rafa also shares that it is not yet possible to determine with certainty what neurological spectrum his son is in and details that he will have to wait until he is older to know a clearer diagnosis.
“Giving Iñaki a diagnosis was difficult and even today it continues to be. From the beginning, he presented a series of very characteristic features of the autism spectrum and many other atypical ones that could contradict him. We will have to wait until he is seven years old to have a clearer picture. “
However, Rafa saves the virtues he finds in Iñaki, whom he calls the “Great Teacher” because, according to him, he reminds him and his entire family of innocence and a unique way to enjoy life.
“My sister calls Iñaki” The Great Teacher “· The nickname comes from the moment we realized, even with satisfactory envy, the way he enjoys life and its small details. From a sound or a taste. A sensation, a song, the arrival of someone. Iñaki reminds us every day that there are many pleasant and beautiful things in life. He taught us to enjoy what I find inconsequential for me personally, he not only made me a better father, but also a better person.
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Seeing everything I went through, it seems a huge irony what a person taught me and changed me who still can’t say his own name well, but who in love and nobility, has not the slightest problem with diction and pronunciation ”.
In the text, Sarmiento regrets that the conditions in Mexico did not allow them to guarantee a good development for their son, so they decided, as a family, to move their life to Spain in search of a better quality of life for Iñaki. . A goal that, in his words, I achieve when I see the learning that has developed in their new educational model.
Rafa Sarmiento also spoke about the severe depression he experienced as a result of this; the need he had to participate in therapy and is grateful for the great team he formed with his wife to be able to move on as a family.