Diagnosis Of Autism

Wow.
That is quite a step. Actually agreeing that there may be something wrong with your child and wanting a definitive diagnosis.
I knew that Nathan had Autism.
I had seen it since he was approx 14mths old.
John, I wasn't too sure about. His could have been because he was just copying his elder brother. I think I might have been in a little bit of denial there for a while.
No, maybe not denial exactly, maybe I just hoped against hope that I was wrong.
I called many neurologists, some that I had worked with, some that my friends and sister had worked with.
The answers were pretty much all the same, there is no cure for Autism.
The boys weren't diagnosed formally until 2006.
Kathleen, in 2007.
I took to the internet and the library.
If I wasn't at home, then I was at the library or work. Another necessary evil.
I looked at book after book after book.
I found many to interest me and point me in many different directions.
At first, I thought it was the vaccines that had caused my children's Autism but, then what caused Kathleen's. She was never immunised.
And, why did I have Rachel, a regular girl, in between John and Kathleen.
Now I have Sarah and Eric. So far neither of them showing signs although Eric at 13mths is still too young to tell.
Ahhh, Maybe a genetic link with multiple triggers.
Therefore, judging by all these different books, a different cure for a different trigger.
Or, maybe not a cure but, a lessening of symptoms to the degree where the person could live a normal life.
A book to try is The Essential Guide To Autism It gives a lot of information on what to look for and where to start.
There is a lot of information out there and quite frankly, it is easy to become overwhelmed.
You need to know that you are not the only out there going through the same thing.
It is easy to bury your head in the sand and not want to deal with it.
It is okay to grieve, for a short while, but, the only chance that your child has of making any kind of recovery is YOU.
No one and I mean no one will care as much as you do if your child succeeds.
For some teachers, your child is job security.
Having an Autistic child is draining emotionally, physically and financially.
You will possibly spend a lot of time fighting to try and get your child the help he/she deserves, but you know what,
The first time they look into your eyes and smile at you again....
The first time that they return your hug, and it may be just a little squeeze...
The first time that you come to pick them up from daycare or school and they notice you and run to you and wrap their arms around your legs....
It is gonna make it all worthwhile.
Longer than the 8 second buzzer, but, it is definitely one hell of a ride.

Take Your Humour Where You Can

This weekend something interesting happened.
Kathleen, my 4 yr old discovered scissors. When I say discovered, I mean reeaaly discovered them.
Oh, she had used them here and there to diligently cut around pieces of paper when asked to, but this weekend, she really discovered what they could be used for.
All kinds of wonderful things!
Scissors cut curtains.
Scissors are real good at cutting clothes.
And, perhaps the best one......... scissors cut hair!
And, not just your own.
I would hear footsteps running at certain intervals across the loungeroom, through the dining room and into the bathroom.
Then I would hear the toilet lid bang down and the toilet flush and lastly, a gleeful little laugh that clearly said 'everything was right in her world"

Well, Kathleen has Autism. She is still in diapers and I knew that she was not using the toilet for the purpose for which it had been designed so, surreptitiously, the next time this little routine was begun, I set myself up next to the bathroom door and peeked in just as the lid was being shut.
A small handful of hair had been tossed in prior to the lid being shut.
But, she just looked full of joy. A great deed had been done!
She raced past me and looked up at me, right into my eyes and gave me the most brilliant smile.
I had to smile back, she was just so happy and proud of herself.
And as she ran past and I looked at the jagged, bitsy edges where her blonde, shoulder length curls used to be, I thought, yes all is good.
Anyway, they say, it is only 10 days from a bad haircut to a good one.
And I guess, I will just try harder to hide the scissors.

Step Forward In Time

It is now 8 years later.
Wow, does time fly. So much has happened. Good and not so good.
I smile. Would I really have changed my life?
Isn't it better to have lived life, really lived it, than to stand on the sidelines and say at the end, was that it?
I am now blessed with six children and I no longer have my husband.
It was a good trade.
But then, with all the ugliness fear and hate he brought into my life, if he hadn't come into it, I wouldn't have my children.
Nathan is 8yrs old, John is 7, Rachel is 6, Kathleen is 4, Kathleen also has Autism with mutism, Sarah is 3 and Eric is 13mths.
Time flies.
Next week they will be grown up and going off to college.
Someone who I once considered a friend once made the statement " She is in denial about her children having Autism"
How can you deny something that jumps up and slaps you in the face each time you look at it.
No, I am not in denial, I am just hopeful, real hopeful.