Our Autism Story: 3 Indicators You Need to Know
Autism was never on our radar. I would say our lives were pretty normal in November of 2012. We had a one-year-old that was thriving and we were doing pretty good at this parenting thing. A few weeks later we found out we were expecting our second child. After the initial shock, we started to prepare. I always wanted two children anyway; a boy first and then a girl. I also wanted them to be at least five years apart. I wanted it that way as I figured he would protect his little sister as they grew together. We eventually found out we would be having another little boy. That was a bummer, but having a healthy baby was more important so it didn’t matter.
We sailed through the pregnancy with absolutely no issues (not even morning sickness) and before long we brought our son home from the hospital overjoyed. Everything was good until he turned one. It was then that my husband started to make comments about his progress and meeting his milestones. He would make comparisons with our oldest which I would always dismiss. In my head, he was fine, just developing at a different pace. He started walking at 10 months old and had more motor skills than his brother had at one year old. “He’s fine, leave him alone” I would say until one day my husband said the word “autism”.
What? What the hell is that?? I’d never heard of that word and I needed to know why he chose that diagnosis. So I started to do my research, mostly to shut my husband up and show him he was wrong. That was not what happened. While reading the first article I started to have a panic attack. Almost every symptom they listed, my son exhibited. What I didn’t know was that my husband had already done his research and had already seen what I was seeing. I was devastated. I immediately remembered a comment I had made to his pediatrician about him “being in his own world” and hated myself for it as this was a common term used to describe children with autism. I was simply describing his quirkiness, how would I have known?
We immediately contacted his pediatrician who connected us with a Psychologist. Over the next few weeks, we discussed our game plan. Our son wasn’t even a year and a half yet but thanks to my husband, we were able to get diagnosed as soon as he turned two years old. These were the three indicators that alerted us that something was off.
1. Regression in his behaviour
When our son was an infant he was very observant. He would track our movement and objects with his eyes, he loved being held and seemed interested in interacting with us and his older brother. He was social. He would smile and laugh when we did anything amusing, played with toys, and was meeting all his milestones. He sat up when he was supposed to, rolled over, and had all his motor functions. He soon started to ‘lose’ those behaviours. He didn’t smile as much and withdrew. He preferred to be alone and was obsessed with jumping. My mom would report that he would leave the space if she approached him and he didn’t want to be held anymore. He retreated with no explanation. Eye contact also stopped and he couldn’t sit still for more than a few minutes at most. He didn’t respond to his name when we called him and he was just not interested in social interaction. He also had a very high threshold for pain which was quite concerning.
2. Picky eater
This one was a bit more difficult to see, but when it was time to introduce solid food he rejected it. We assumed he didn’t like the foods we introduced and would try our best to give him a variety of options. Whether it was a puree of fruits, veggies, or a mix of the two, he didn’t bite (literally). This turned out to be a sensory issue related to food textures.
3. Regression in his speech
By the time our son was a year old, his speech started to disappear. He was beginning to say a few simple words prior, but he wasn’t adding to his vocabulary, and the words he had he just stopped using. We would try to engage him verbally but he again had no interest.
We didn’t know it yet but all the ‘little quirks’ I observed were symptoms of a disorder we had never heard of. Autism Spectrum Disorder is a neurological disorder that affects an individual’s development, communication, social interaction, and learning. Each person exhibits these symptoms differently; their diagnosis can range from mild to severe.
There was a lot that we learned and are still learning. It’s been a journey! Some days you see a tremendous amount of progress and on others you feel like crawling under a rock and giving up. We try to be positive and take it one day at a time.
If your child is not reaching milestones when they should, or if you suspect something is off, speak to your child’s doctor about those concerns as soon as possible. Early intervention is key when dealing with autism, so don’t wait!
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