Micah

Our child had many early signs of autism but they were looked at individually and nobody mentioned autism to us.  We were first referred for early intervention because our child wasn’t babbling and they ran their face along the floor.  We didn't know until they were older that they should have imitated our facial expressions, waved bye, or played patty cake according to 'normative developmental expectations'.   We had several hearing tests done when they were young because they didn’t seem to hear us. 

We were provided with a consultant OT (occupational therapist), who gave us ideas for our child's sensory problems.  Our child had low sensitivity in their face and mouth so we used vibrating toys and toothbrushes to help with that.  We were taught exercises to do on an exercise ball to help with their coordination, balance, and muscle tone.  When they were a young baby we had to bounce our child hard in our lap and even as they got older they needed to bounce and jump a lot.  We were told to take many parenting classes, and also took a program to help improve their communication (so many better options now though- IPad with apps etc).  Our child spoke single words and they would say a word once and then never again. 

Jumping at kindergym!

Our child had many what we thought were tantrums that lasted a long time.  They could last an hour or more and they could become very aggressive.  We know now that they were meltdowns from being overwhelmed.  I took them to many toddler and preschool programs.  They wouldn’t play alongside the other kids; our child seem to have no interest in them.  Our child would hide under the slide at Kindergym and didn’t want any other kids near the toys they were playing with.  The professionals told us that they had behavioral problems; that it was my fault (we later found out about "refrigerator mothers"), and to take more parenting classes. 

We kept trying different professionals, psychiatrists and doctors.  Nobody could tell us why our child was struggling.  We finally found a doctor when they were four and a half who could tell us.  They were diagnosed autistic.  They were referred to a psychiatrist who specializes in autism and he did assessments and confirmed the diagnosis at age 5.

If you feel there is something that seems different with the way your child is developing, keep after the doctors.  Our child had other health problems that we had to fight to get solved along the way also, but that is another story.

Once they were diagnosed were were told to get them on the IBI waitlist, start going to parent support groups and we got a consultant at Kerry’s Place.  Being 'good' parents, we did as we were told.  But I would have redone a lot- like no IBI (ABA)!  More on that in future blogs as you will see (I am rewriting bits of these).