I haven't yet spoken much about my son's Autism diagnosis... I suppose now is as good of a time as any! I generally don't have any trouble talking about it, but its not something I really just put right out there usually. In fact, most people would never know he has a diagnosis. He is a really talkative, social, bright kid. I occasionally wonder if we got something mixed up, but I digress. In total honesty, he's a completely different kid than he was this time last year...
Last January, my then 3 year old was diagnosed with Autism, Receptive Language Disorder, and Severe Separation Anxiety. We went to the Easter Seals Autism Clinic. They would not give me any more information than this (like whether he was considered high-functioning or not). After our second trip down to see them, I was handed a letter with his diagnosis, and a giant folder full of information - and essentially told "Good Luck". We were already doing everything they suggested, so there was no new information to add to this. Except to put him back into school...
He's always been a super happy kid. Even though he never slept, had horrible eczema that would make you want to cry, and he would spit up insane amounts of breastmilk. Seriously, at times he would be nursing, pull off, spit up all over me, and then go right back to nursing! He hit all his milestones on time. Sitting up at 4 months, saying Mama at 5 months, walking at 11... etc etc. And he was huge. Really, truly, the biggest baby I'd ever seen, lol! He'd doubled his birth weight (8lbs, 8oz) by 2 months. By 9 months he was 27lbs (the now 2 year old doesn't even weight that, lol!!). He slowed down (ok, stopped!) once he started walking.
He had so many food allergies though, it was crazy. It seemed like he was allergic to the World. I cut everything out of my diet. I've talked about that before, no need to do it again (see the First post). After he had his first anaphylactic reaction to dairy, and we finally got in to see an allergist, we *thought* we knew what was going on. We *thought* he was just allergic to dairy and peanuts... Not quite...
So, I started feeding him (slowly...) all the things she said he could have now. I guess I should have paid more attention? Mother's guilt is always the long-lasting, hard to bear, kind of guilt. I'm pretty sure now, that he did have a problem with gluten... We'll get back to this later.
He stopped talking. He didn't babble. He said Hi at around 11 months, then Daddy sometime between then and 18 months. That was pretty much it, except for some animal noises. He didn't seem to understand a thing we said (the RLD).
He didn't turn to his name 90% of the time. You really had to be hollering at him.
Still, a happy kid though! He loved when I was pregnant with his brother to lay his head down and listen to the baby's heartbeat. He was so upbeat, and rarely threw a tantrum, til he self-weaned at around 20 months. At this point, he started drinking a crazy amount of soymilk. I was a little worried about all that soy, but figured we didn't have much of a choice to give him anything else.
The baby came, he still wasn't really talking. He was saying Mommy now, and tantruming like crazy. He would sit for an hour and try to figure out the belts on the baby's swing. Or the carseat. He had started banging his head on the wall when he was in trouble. He would randomly take off from us, and we joked about needing a harness and leash for the kid. No matter where we went, one of us was always trailing after him because he had no sense of danger, and would not stop if we shouted at him. I was starting to get really concerned. He also had a lot of repetitive behavior, mostly with doors (opening and closing them), and was flapping his hands when angry or excited. I was seriously hoping he was just a stubborn kid (which he is, lol), and that he'd start talking on his own...
So, at around 27 months I took him to Easter Seals for an evaluation. They said that he definitely had some delays. Suggested that Early Intervention have an evaluation as well. So, we had that done. They said he had significant delays in speech and some other delays (I can't really remember... ). They recommended therapy for speech and occupational therapy. The OT started in about 2 months. There's quite a waiting list... We waited 6 months for a speech therapist, and eventually I gave up and got him a private therapist. Best decision I made!
It didn't take long for him to start talking some. He was still a pretty quiet kid, but had a good amount of language - enough to make his needs met at least. He would still get stuck in repetitive patterns. Like, talking on the phone... he was constantly 'playing' phone. Pretty normal, except it would go on for hours unless you could get him directed somewhere else. No conversation at all.
When he turned 3, he aged out of E.I., and they wanted him in pre-school. So, we got him signed up, and tried to explain to him what was going to happen. He potty trained a few weeks before school started. He was doing pretty good too. Then classes started, and he had no idea what was happening. Remember, he had really severe seperation anxiety. He screamed bloody murder everyday for 6 days. All potty training was lost. He started having multiple accidents, even at night. I pulled him from the school. It took 2 months to get him back to square one. I started talking to his speech therapist and pediatrician about the possibility of Autism. His ped got us an appointment for January at the Autism Clinic. The whole process started in September/October. Yes, it took that long for an appointment.
The Clinic was interesting. I got to stay with him the whole time. I had to fill out piles of paperwork. It was long, intense, and we were both exhausted by the end of it. The whole process took two days - one long day where we saw several therapists, and a short day with just a few therapists and a developmental pediatrician. By the end of the second day, we had an official diagnosis. Autism, Receptive Language Disorder, and Severe Separation Anxiety (from me, specifically). We were already doing everything they suggested, except the schooling. I put a call into the preschool where he was previously, and got an IEP put in place for him. That first week was scary, no doubt!
He's doing wonderfully now. He started school again, in a smaller class (I think there was only a total of 8 kids) because he had been so overwhelmed in the first class (there was 20 kids in the class!), and this one was much more structured. He loved it! Still does! He has made huge leaps and bounds there. They definitely help meet his sensory needs too.
We started the gluten free diet with him shortly after I started mine, and saw even more improvements! He answers questions now, is starting to carry on conversations, can count to 50... He's so smart, I can hardly believe it.
The biggest changes started with his eyes... We've always said that he's off in his own world. Kind of flighty. And his pupils were HUGE. I thought that was just normal for him... nope. Once we started the diet, they started to decrease to a normal size. Then he stopped stimming (self-stimulation). His stim was this obnoxious motor noise, followed by a gutteral clicking in his throat. It had been constant. We haven't heard it in over a month now. Then, he stopped slamming the doors constantly. And now, he's a total motor mouth! This kid never, and I mean never, stops talking ;). He tends to do a running commentary of what we're doing, what he's doing, what his brother is doing... Such a difference from 11 months ago when he was diagnosed! So, through all of this, we've discovered a definite problem with gluten (obvious neurological problems), and soy (severe behavioral problems). Oh yes, soy causes him to tantrum and act like a heathen, and gives him some pretty severe stomach issues. Food can do some crazy things to your body...
So, that's the story... I hope its helpful to someone. I do admit, I kind of miss the quiet, lol!! But I'd never give it back ;).
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