A glimpse into a life with autism
I wake up to a door slamming… wap, wap, wap. I can hear our knob turn. I roll over to look at my clock and it is 7:01 am. “Right on time”, I say to myself with a smile on my face. My husband and I are very lucky because we don't have to turn on an alarm ever because we have our very own personal alarm; our seven-year-old son.
It is hard to believe that it has been 5 years since our son's diagnosis. It feels like it was just yesterday. Since Alex was a baby, I always had a gut feeling that things were just not right, but he was such a happy, laid back baby that everyone kept saying, “Don't worry, he is just a chilled kid, he will catch up”. However, as time went on and all of our friend's kids starting walking, saying their first words; Alex did not. He was also a very big baby and toddler, so people always looked at him and expected the world from him, but he couldn't deliver. In fact, up until about a year and half ago, we would get stares and hear whispering from people all the time when we were out because he would have often times have a tantrum and scream, or better yet lie in the middle of the aisle in the grocery store rubbing his face on the floor. Alex couldn't tell us using words that the lights, noises and crowds were bothering him so he would self sooth in ways that the majority of the population thought was inappropriate. If he couldn't self-soothe, then he would just scream and cry. I can't tell you the number of times I got comments like, “can't you control your kid?”.
If you haven't guessed already, Alex has autism. He did not start to walk until he was two. He didn't learn to crawl until after he walked. He did not have more then twenty words until he was five. Combining words, he still continues to work on. He still does not speak in full sentences. While Alex doesn't scream anymore in the grocery store, everyone knows we are coming because he is bouncing, or flapping his hands or reciting something loudly that he heard on t.v. earlier. His latest saying is “ice cream, pickles and fries”. I think it is from one of the Dora episodes that he is crazy about. Through a tremendous amount of hard work on his part and ours, Alex has come a long way from when he was first diagnosed. He is engaged now. For the most part, he wants to be around people. He might not say a lot, but his giant smile and infectious laugh makes people want to be around him. I can honestly say that he is one of the happiest people I know.
Alex has brought so much to joy to our family. Our other kids are very understanding, caring and don't stare at other kids and adults exhibiting strange behaviours because they just think they are quirky just like Alex. While we continue to get lots of stares and rolling of eyes when we are out and about; we just let it roll off our backs and move forward with giant smiles on our faces. While some people might feel sorry for us. We don't at all, in fact we feel so very blessed and thankful for our beautiful big boy and all joy that he brings to our family. Alex truly is a gift.
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