The one thing people ask me consistently is “how did you know?” Or “what symptoms did he have?” The best answer I can give you is that, as a mom, if you think something isn’t right with your child you are most likely right. Not all kids are going to show the same symptoms so it’s hard to compare, but if you find yourself worrying then you need to talk to the doctor. There were no signs during infancy. Griffin met every milestone and his pediatrician even told me at his 4 month appointment that she could tell we would never have to worry about autism or anything like that because of how alert he was and how he interacted with her. Imagine me a year later wondering why he stopped talking and seemed way too busy but I shouldn’t worry because of what his doctor said. Age 2-3 was a year of me telling my husband something is wrong and him saying “he’s fine, he’s just a boy.” We did voice concern at one of our checkups but she told us to take away the pacifier to help with talking and didn’t mention much else. So my main red flags were he’s too busy, he can talk but he won’t communicate, musical shows were about the only thing that would get and hold his attention, he loved to bounce for long periods of time, and he sang A LOT (which people loved and thought it was adorable). Right after his 3rd birthday, I took him to the doctor with an ear infection and saw someone we hadn’t seen before. I brought up my concerns again and she agreed that he was not interacting with her properly and I need to consult a psychologist. She also said to look up PDD which is pervasive developmental disorder. I believe now they just say that’s autism, they don’t really use it as a diagnosis. So yeah, after 3 visits to a psychologist she said it was definitely autism and “good luck.” We were left on our own to figure things out and maybe for me that was a blessing. If they had told me to enter him in all these therapies then we may have been at a different place than we are now. I started researching how and why this happens to kids and found out so much on gut health and how it affects the brain. I found a developmental pediatrician and we had to wait 6 months to get in but it was well worth it. We started with diet restrictions and supplements and could immediately see some improvement. I never kept him away from neuro typical children, because he loved other kids and they were the best influences on him. I threw him into as many situations with kids as I could. From the minute he entered kindergarten, we were insistent on him going into regular classrooms throughout the day and interacting with kids that weren’t autistic. He had speech therapy and OT once a week at school through his IEP, but we never paid for any extra therapies or went to a therapy outside of school. Every summer, I sent him to a daycare at a church while I had to work and he was the only special needs child there. We noticed that in the summers his communication grew tremendously and knew it had to be the other children influencing him. By the grace of God, a better diet, and his friends I believe that is how we got to where we are now. He is doing so well and takes care of himself. We went from constant supervision to now he hardly ever needs us which was hard to get used to. It’s like autistic kids stay toddlers for the first 8 years of their life. You never know what they will try to eat or where they will try to go. We are lucky that we have always seen progression over the years because that isn’t always the case. Some kids continue to regress or they hit a plateau and there is still so much that can’t be explained about that. The important thing is to do what you feel is right for your child. Parents know our kids best and I believe I have made the best decisions for my son. I hope this can be helpful for someone else starting the journey, feel free to reach out with questions.
