Did you know that April is Autism Awareness Month, and April 2nd is World Autism Day?
Many of you may not know that I am the mom of a child with autism. I would like to share a little bit about our story with all of you.
We were blessed to have the opportunity to adopt a beautiful little girl back in 2001. We knew that with her history of exposure to drugs that she may have some learning difficulties, but we weren’t sure if and what they might be. Now, I want to make it clear that not all children who have autism were exposed to drugs like ours, in fact, I would venture to say that the majority were not. There is no one cause of autism.
Our daughter was 2 years old when we brought her home and we finalized her adoption just after her 3rd birthday. It is hard enough to become a parent, but to be thrown into a world with a two year old was a huge adjustment for us. As “new” parents, we missed so many of the early signs of autism, as do most parents, I think.
When you see little things in your child that you know aren’t quite right, you tend to deny them. That is what we did anyway. We chalked it up to not having her from birth. We also thought it was cute how she liked to line her toys up or could remember entire commercials or movies. We weren’t so excited about the tantrums and need to have her rigid routine, or the hysteria when she had sand or grass on her feet or hands, or the covering of her ears when things of normal tone were too loud.
It wasn’t until my mom, who is a teacher, said she thought our daughter was showing signs of being on the autism spectrum, that we took a real look at getting some help. When we started the diagnostic process at Kennedy Krieger, we were overwhelmed with all of the information we were getting. Autism was something we didn’t really know about. The only knowledge we had about autism was from the movie Rain Man, and I can tell you our daughter was nothing like him. We soon learned that autism is a spectrum disorder. Each person “on the spectrum” is unique. Some are non-verbal and unable to care for themselves, while others are savants with genius abilities. Our daughter falls in between. She is on grade level, never stops talking and is very loving. She, however, has some social issues, processing issues and fine and large motor issues.
When we finally received the diagnosis of high functioning autism, we went through several different emotions. Anger, sadness, worry, and most of all, relief. Yes, relief. Let me clarify. It is a relief to have answers, to have an idea of where to go now, and most of all, to know that we were not crazy, that someone else saw what we saw.
We have been fortunate to have our daughter in early intervention programs such as speech therapy, occupational therapy and several others over the years. Each of these have helped our daughter get to where she is today, and will be a continuous process.
As a mom of a child on the spectrum, I would like to ask each of you to be very understanding the next time you see a child having a tantrum in the store, or a child who is running around touching things and getting in your way, or screaming for what seems like no reason and most of all for those moms and dads who may be at their wits end who are doing the best they can. It is so easy to judge someone with a child on the spectrum because most of the time our children show no physical signs of a disability. A smile, an offer of help with their groceries so they can tend to their child, or a word of encouragement can go a long way.
I have been blessed with 2 children. One who we chose through adoption, and one who we gave birth to. Both are a gift from God and are amazing!
I have been told that God chooses special people to parent children with special needs. I disagree. I believe God chooses special kids to shape us into the parents he wants us to be. It’s not easy, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. She is teaching me more than I am teaching her.
Autism is a “spectrum disorder" that affects individuals differently and to varying degrees. There is no single known cause for autism, but increased awareness and funding can help families today.
Today, it is estimated that 1 in every 110 children is diagnosed with autism, and almost 1 in 70 boys, making it more common than childhood cancer, juvenile diabetes and pediatric AIDS combined. With that said, if you haven't met someone on the autism spectrum yet, you will.
It is so important to know the signs. Early intervention can make a huge impact and lead to significantly improved outcomes. For more information, visit: www.autismspeaks.org
