Found a great church!

Today we started a new church!  We haven't been in forever because people generally don't tolerate autistic children very well.  This church is absolutely wonderful!  Christian absolutely enjoyed Sunday school and made the cutest picture of Noah's ark with Q-tips : )  Now my 23 y/o daughter is here visiting with me...it can't get any better!

Rainy Saturday at home

Even though it was raining today, we had a great day here at home. Christian did alot I mean alot of stimming today, but we were able to redirect him fairly easily. I was able to get caught up on laundry and even managed to get it all put away!! Yay me!! We are going to start a new church tomorrow and I'm super excited because they welcome children with disabilities with open arms : )

Adjustment

I find myself with an 8 week old baby that has completely changed my life!  Wow!  It's been a long time since I've had a baby.  We soon settle into a routine and life goes on.  When he was about 2 y/o I noticed that Christian had delayed speech and would have "staring spells" and since his birth mother has seizures, I took him to a neurologist. 

Test were negative, but we were referred to a neuropsycholgist.  After 2 hours of testing, the results came back that he had autistic tendencies.  What????  At this point the nurse in me kicked into full research mode.  I was determined to wrap my head around this diagnosis and do whatever it takes to get Christian what he needs.  The more I researched, the more questions I had.

I did get Christian into the First Steps program with our local program and he started to receive speech therapy.  At age 3 we re-tested with our neuropsychologist and she again stated he has autistic tendencies, but didn't want to diagnose due to his young age. (I would push for diagnosis knowing what I know now).  He was finally given the diagnosis of Aspergers at age 4.  It was determined that his speech delay was due to multiple ear infections and the fact he had 4 sets of PE tubes by the time he was 3y/o. 

He now speaks very well thanks to his speech therapist!  I also got in enrolled with occupational therapy and speech on a private basis.  Autism doesn't go away, so each day is a new challenge. 

A little background information

I have a 27  y/o son who has high functioning autism that went undiagnosed for most of his life.  Unfortunately none of the specialist I took him to, ever considered a diagnosis on the spectrum.  Once a disabled child becomes an adult the law doesn't allow for parental intervention and with that being said, that is how I ended up with Christian who is the love of my life : )

Christian was born right before Christmas and my husband was lucky enough to get to name him.  What a wonderful present!  I spoke to my son daily instructing him on how to handle different situations and my husband who worked close to where they lived would visit during the week when he could.  Unfortunately I received a phone call in February while I was at work, on the other end was a caseworker with DCS.  She began telling me the story and that she had been looking for me for weeks - she said the parents wouldn't tell her my phone numbers or where I worked.  She then asked me did I want my grandson or did I prefer him to go to a foster home.  Is that a choice...really?  That baby is my blood and there was only one answer in my mind. 

That is why this blog exist - to tell the story of a wonderful little boy who has changed my life forever.