08 Apr 2008 04:41 AM

Another member in the world of Autism...

Now that I have expressed my feelings for my oldest son, I would like to tell you a bit about my youngest son, Zachary.  He is a very handsome, wonderful, little 5.5 year old boy with Autism.  He was born prematurely at 32 weeks gestation and weighed only 4 lbs 5.5 oz.  He spent 12 days in the NICU due to not being able to keep his body temperature regulated, but came home pretty quickly.  After being home 3 weeks he went back into the hospital after contracting RSV, and spent a week before finally coming home.  He would spend alot of time in and out of hospitals his first 2 years.  He had alot of issues with his lungs, reflux and episodes of his extremities turning blue.  He endured many tests and most came back with no new information.  He was behind on all of his milestones, and since he was my fifth child, I was able to recognize it right away.  He began recieving physical therapy at 6 months of age.  By the time he was 1.5, he also began recieving speech and occupational therapy.  It wasn't until he was 2.5 that we got the diagnosis of Autism.  Although I had already figured it out for the most part.  My husband at the time and my mother in law, refused to believe anything other than "he's just a little slow".  It made it very frustrating for me because they told me I was looking for something to be wrong, like it was what I secretly wanted.  What mother would want something to be wrong with their child?!  After the diagnosis, they finally started to come around.  Zachy was accepted into the county school systems Autism class in November of 2005.  He went just about full time and began showing immediate signs of improvement.  Kids need me now, I will have to finish this story later.....(sorry)

Send this to a friend