Posts Tagged ‘Autism diagnosis’
I Wasn’t Ready, But I’m Getting There
No one asked if I was ready… At 18 months old, my daughter Vivian was typically developing. She had always been “the last.” The last of the children of her age group that we knew to learn to crawl, the last to walk, the last to utter her first word, “dog.” But that was okay. She was still in the typical range. Then she began withdrawing. No one asked if I was ready to see my baby stop coming to me. I wasn’t. I wasn’t ready to watch as my…
Read MoreWill Getting A Diagnosis Be Harder Because She’s a Girl?
I have been watching my daughter over the past couple of months, as many of us who have multiple children do, after an autism diagnosis. It is evident at this point, that she has a significant speech delay in expressive language, the words she can speak, and her receptive language, the words she understands. I have been tallying…does she make eye contact, does she point? We cannot gauge her social interactions with children her age as she has been home since March. This second time around, I have been watching…
Read MoreMy story as a Grandparent of a Child with Autism
When your kids get older and become adults you start to think about what their life will be like. You start asking yourself questions like “who they will marry?”, “how many kids will they have?”, and “did you do a good enough job raising them?” At least these are the thoughts that I had run through my mind as my children began growing up. I had all these thoughts of what their spouse would be like, and how their wedding would be, and if they would always need me or…
Read MoreBattling the Darkness
There was a time our life changed. We went from ‘typical parents’ to special needs parents. Although I still don’t see the differences. We have a different struggle, but we are still parents. Autism crept into our lives and changed the way we used our voice, while we were fighting for other kids. It sneaked into ours and asked us to use our voice for our own children. Our son was the first to be diagnosed…never did we think we would take the same road twice. I think I grieved…
Read MoreYour Smile
In my life, over the years, there have been a few things that have taken my breath away. The day I kissed my husband and committed my life to him as his wife…that kiss took my breath away. The night I found out I was going to be a mommy for the first time. The world stopped spinning and for a split second I stopped breathing. My daughter had a febrile seizure on top of me when she was 16 months old and I held my breath while my husband…
Read MoreTo My Husband Who Chose To Stay
To my husband who chose to stay: That sounds so ridiculous to say out loud. Some people are currently scratching their heads because why would I say that? I say it because it’s true. Thank you for loving me when the diagnosis of autism consumed me and changed who I was. I was no longer in my mid-twenties trying to figure out how to be a first time mom. I was an autism mom and services for our son was my only priority. We said good-bye to date nights, weekend…
Read MoreMy Child is More Than a Diagnosis
Autism. Borderline Intellectual Functioning. Anxiety. Complex Medical Profile. Severe Speech Delay. Risk for ADHD. As I sit and read my five year old daughter’s recent neuropsych evaluation, I can’t help but feel helpless when I repeat these words in a continuous loop in my head. My daughter was diagnosed with autism at the age of 2 (rare for a girl) and we have moved the moon and stars to give her what she needs to be successful and most importantly, happy. And she is. She’s come so far. The…
Read MoreI’ll Follow His Lead
“I think we can say with confidence that Leo meets all of the criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder…” I sat on the floor of the room where Leo was being assessed, absorbing the doctor’s words…reaching with confusion for the tissue box she set out before me, only to realize that my cheeks were stained with tears silently streaming down my face. I knew before those words were uttered…before she handed me that piece of paper with his newly minted medical diagnosis… I knew. And yet, despite leaving for our appointment…
Read MoreDiagnosis Day
I know you are hurting. I know you are worried. I know your whole body is trembling, and clammy with sweat. I know, because I once heard the very words you heard today. Yes, it is Autism Spectrum Disorder. I heard them fifteen years ago, when I was a New Autism Mama. Now, I am an Old Autism Mama. Take a deep breath. Just breathe. It is a diagnosis, that’s all. Yes, it is life-changing. Yes, it is official, and important. It is also momentum, and possibility, and a chance…
Read MoreDon’t Be Afraid of the Label
My son, Chase, started school a couple of weeks before his fifth birthday. He had never been in a school setting before. Had never been in a “structured” environment. That first year of school turned out to be, what I would say, just short of, a disaster. Chase was in trouble multiple times a week. I felt like I was getting a call at least once a day, and was in meetings every two to three weeks. I was told Chase had aggression and anger issues. Chase was throwing a…
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