Since the beginning of August my husband and I have been playing a waiting game. In my opinion it's one of the toughest waiting games a parent can play. We've been waiting to find out if our son has autism. I've been very quiet about this because I didn't want to make a big deal about it or have it seem like I'm looking for sympathy/attention. This process we're going through is another step in my sons life and there is no reason to keep it under wraps. Here is the first part of our journey.
In August my son had his 18 month check up. My husband and I knew that he wasn't talking and that he was at least delayed. We had talked about our concerns with each other but we wanted to give bub more time before we voiced our worries to the pediatrician. When we went to the appointment we filled out a little questionnaire about his development. At the end of the visit our pediatrician came back in and told us that she was going to process a referral to Child Development Services because she was concerned about autism as well.
At first I didn't really know how I felt about the possibility. I cried because I thought we did something wrong that ultimately resulted in us somehow hindering him. Then my husband had to go to Ireland on account of a sick relative. So there I was, without my husband with our 18 month old son and our 2 week old daughter. My brain was spinning about how to feel. Then my husband called me and told me to look up a bit of writing called Welcome To Holland. I cried again and realized I was looking at things all wrong.
The woman that I met today is amazing and got me the referrals that I need to proceed with yet another evaluation. I'll have to wait another couple of weeks to find out for sure if he has autism. In the mean time we will be having meetings with the special educator twice a week so we can help bub move forward regardless.
