A fresh diagnosis...

So, as most of you know, my son Christopher, was diagnosed with Autism a few months ago...so technically it is still a fresh diagnosis. Anyway, I have been pretty positive about the whole thing, after all, there really isn't anything to be upset about. My son is still perfect to me and his daddy, as well as to all of his family, the only thing different is that now we know how to help him learn.

I guess I should give you a little bit of a back story, before I get too far ahead of myself.

We first had Christopher evaluated through early childhood intervention (ECI), just shortly before he turned 3. We were concerned because he had an obvious speech delay, which we later learned was delayed by about 18 months. They labeled him with something called non-categorical early childhood, which basically means that there was something wrong with him, they just didn't know what it was. 

They recommended him for a program called PPCD; Preschool Programs for Children with Disabilities. He would have started PK3 through this program, but I didn't take in to account how difficult the transition would be and after his first meltdown, I decided that sending him to school right then, would cause unnecessary separation anxiety...I thought that his daddy and I could get him on track. I wish I knew then, what I know now...

Fast forward 2 years to the first day of Kindergarten, and you will find us with a happy kid that loves going to school, but is uncontrollable. Yep, on the 4th day of school, they called us to come pick him up because they could not control him. We went in, sat down with the assistant principal and the school counselor and were basically told (by the assistant principal) that our son was bad, and that he thought it was all a game, and that he was running around because he just didn't want to listen.

Well, first off, it is probably not a good idea to label someones child as "bad" after 4 days of Kindergarten...and it probably is not the smartest idea to say it to their faces. Needless to say, I didn't have much to say to her. Anyway, I kept Christopher home from school the next day and took him to the Pediatrician and got a referral to the Counseling and Diagnostic Center in Fort Worth, Texas. I called them to make an appointment for an evaluation for what we all thought was ADHD. Within the week, the psychologist was at our home...but what she noticed upon first stepping in the door, was that Christopher didn't have ADHD.

After 2 visits, and multiple tests, including evaluations filled out by me and daddy, his kindergarten teacher, and the special education team...the diagnosis came back; AUTISM. Our son was on the spectrum...

I am going to stop here for now, but will continue with the next post...I leave you with one of the faces of Autism :)