Today is Autism Awareness Day so here goes my story.. as most of you know AJ has been diagnosed with global developmental delay vs high functioning autism.. the things that i, his grandmother and his social worker noticed was the obvious speech delay but also at that time he did not make eye contact, did not respond to his name, did not look if you pointed at something (called joint attention), did not bring things to me to share his discoveries, displayed inappropriate emotions, hit his head all the time, toe walked and some other stuff... i got him into early intervention and into developmental peds (where he received his current dx). he will go for more definitive testing in May... While I dont know what his diagnosis will end up being or where this will lead I am and will always be forever grateful to the autism community.. I have joined a few parent groups and have learned so much.. especially from people with autism themselves who can tell me how their childhood was and how that lead to different parenting styles with their own kids with autisim and how successfull it has been . I know 100% that my son would not have progressed as he is doing without early intervention (most kids are not even evaluated/ diagnosed till about 5) and without the tips i have learned from other parents on his sensory issues, not forcing eye contact (it can actually be painful for some), connecting with him on his level, etc... through all that my son feels safe with me and connected to me and he has BLOSSOMED. He does make eye contact but not when you are talking to him (i have been told that its hard to listen and look at the face at the same time), he is MUCH more social to those he feels comfortable with, he shares his experiences with me, if he is stimming i join in with him and he looks at me and laughs and gives me kisses, he is communicating MUCH more using words and signs..he tries to repeat everything his GiGi says becuase nothing beats his GiGi. Not only has this community help me help my son blossom but they have also helped me understand my own sensory and emotional issues from my neurodiversity (ADHD).. a lot of the sensory and emotional part cross over between the two as studies have shown.. Anyhow.. expect lots of autsim stuff from me this month to celebrate Autism Awareness Month.. but lets not just be aware.. lets understand and accept!
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 13:42:38 +0000
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