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boy walking a dirt path

The beginning our journey started at my son’s 18-month checkup. The pediatrician noted that she had been in the room for 30 minutes, and he hadn’t looked at her once. As she was saying this, he turned around in my lap and began turning the lights on and off.

I knew that she was concerned about autism. She said that she was surprised at how calm I was. The truth is, I was familiar with autism. I taught special education. 

There had been times when I noticed behaviors that resembled autism, but I always had an explanation for whatever the behavior was. 

When we went to the gym and he wouldn’t look at the girls at the check in desk, when they gushed over him, it was because he was tired or shy.

When he didn’t respond to his name, it was because he was concentrating so much on whatever he was playing with.

There were times when he was excited that he would move his arms in a flapping motion, but it wasn’t exaggerated. 

He didn’t turn around in the pew at church to interact with the family sitting behind us.

He had poor eye contact.

He didn’t engage in messy play.

He ate his first birthday cake with a fork.

He had stopped talking.

We talked for 45 minutes. I felt the pediatrician’s office with a referral for testing.

Immediately, I went to the used children’s store and bought a ton of floor toys that were new and exciting. I sat on the floor and played with him. When my daughter came home from school, she sat and played with him. I observed. They played with a car ramp. He loved watching the cars race to the bottom.

He clapped.

He cheered.

He laughed.

But, he never looked at her.

Not once.

We heard conflicting advice on whether we should have him tested at that time or to wait until he was older. We met with a couple from church who have a son with autism. They gave us great advice. They simply said there was no benefit in waiting. In fact, waiting could rob him of time that he could be receiving the services he needed. So, we contacted the psychiatrist that they recommended and scheduled the evaluation. He was diagnosed with autism one month after he turned two.

Since then, we have navigated DDD, early intervention, priority preschool, speech therapy, occupational therapy, feeding therapy, social groups, and homeschool. We continue to learn and make adjustments based on the needs of our son. Sometimes there is a lot of progress, growth and surprises. Other times it is, difficult and confusing. But, it is also full of  beauty and love. It’s not what I had pictured when he was an infant. It is so much more.