A long while back people always had assumed that Autism was this horrible thing.
They could depict the movie “Rain Man”, if they only could understand how much it has changed.
You could walk past a High Functioning Autistic person tomorrow and not know.
I had always knew the word Autism but never understood what it was I can now tell you the story of my
Sons and their own personal walk with Autism.
Vinny was born on April 16th 1998 weighing 6lbs. 9ounces 19 inches. He was born 5 weeks early, but he was healthy. His bilrubin count was a little high as a result his skin and eyes were a little yellow but he was able to go home.
The first year of Vinny's life I knew he was fussy, and cried, I knew he hated his crib, and a lot of sudden motions...I knew he liked to sleep with a lock of my hair in his hand and would get such a grip on me I could not escape him...if I were to remove my hair he would wake up and go crazy in a crying fit. What I did not know a lot of this was not routine, and should have been addressed I believed in my naive new mom brain that every baby was probably like this.
As Vinny got older it got worse he was very attached to me...not a problem for me I loved him so much, the fact that I had given birth to a daughter right after he turned one made it difficult for my daughter in the toddler years.
His Tantrums were almost all the time, and I had no idea what was wrong he would wake up this way and if he woke up in a relatives house it was really bad he would be disoriented and he would go stiff throw himself down and punch me if I tried to console him let alone anyone who tried.
At 3 years of age we had a 2 year old daughter, and a new born daughter. The pediatrician had suspected that Vinny had a speech delay...I had no clue about this because my 3 year old had a vocabulary the size of an adult. His evaluation came back that his speech was highly intelligible. At this time Vinny was also developing other symptoms he hated water on his face, head and baths became nightmares I had to come up with so many ways to work around it so that I made it easier and comfortable for him. The sound issue too One day I was washing dishes in the kitchen and he walked in and grabbed his ears screaming make it stop, make it stop as soon as I turned off the water he was fine, so I had to buy him ear plugs because the baby crying got the same reaction from him.
I expressed my concern to his doctor and she sent him for audio logic testing all that they said was he has hypersensitivity to sound and to buy him ear plugs, of course I already did this.
Vinny had problems falling asleep, making choices in a store, throwing frequent public tantrums, fear of the playground equipment, bike riding, school buses, other children and a long history of picky eating, and separation anxiety.
I noticed he did better with routines and scheduled things if it stayed the same it was okay if it changed it was a tantrum. Going to school tantrums just to get him on the bus was heartbreaking he would scream and run away, one day he ran into a gas station and was in danger but the principal was on the bus for him so she came off and the police had to sneak up behind him and grab him and then they had to ride in a school security car watching him go trough this I felt helpless and guilty like maybe I did something wrong.
No one ever had answers and it took almost 8 years for my discovery of Autism and actually telling the doctor I need to have him checked for it...sure I have heard of Autism, honestly I just knew nothing about it.
Vinny was referred to a neurologist who thought he had ADHD...but further testing at the schools evaluation and the information I provided and my concerns showed he is a High functioning Autistic.
What have I learned:
Don't be afraid to express your concerns immediately to a doctor, don't take no for an answer...or OK I'll look into it.
Always keep checking in with all of the school staff, doctor's, specialists don't wait for them to call you it may never happen.
My number one rule....LISTEN TO YOUR CHILD...Tears, tantrums, fears...all the time are not ordinary. They can not express themselves fully even when they are five because Autism is a communication disorder too.
