When
my son, Malachi was 10 months old, he said his first word. “Tickle”, well, it
came out “Ticka”, but he used the accompanying hand motions for tickling so we
got the point. From there he picked up more words, like all children do. He
could say “Mamma”, “Daddy”, “Boo”, “Kitty”, and “Grandma”. Over all, his speech
was normal. He was a normal toddler, except he didn’t like to be messy, and was
quite picky about his food. He also would jump if he was feeling overwhelmed.
We thought he was just a happy baby. We missed our first warning.
When
he was 18 months old, Malachi stopped talking, all together just stopped
talking. It was like a switch had been flipped and he no longer had the words
to say. Now, instead of jumping and dancing when he was overwhelmed, he would
have a massive tantrum and would not calm down until he was tightly hugged for
several minutes. “The terrible twos” I was told, I missed the second warning.
In
June of 2013, Malachi’s doctor noticed that he would not make eye contact with
her. He would not interact with her and spent the entire visit in his own
world. She did not miss the warnings and advised me to get him tested for the
Autism Spectrum. She sent us to the Seattle
Autism Center, who in turn helped us to bypass their 6-10 month waiting
list and had me sign Malachi up for a study. By August, my little boy was
diagnosed with Moderate-Mild Autism Spectrum Disorder, and I was lost. How had
I missed this? I have an autistic stepbrother. My son doesn’t act like my stepbrother
did.
We
missed the warning signs because we held up one example of Autism as the model
for Autism. For my own child, he was
just a little weird. He would drive his toy cars on his stomach and chest, or
carry multiple cars around with him. He didn’t like making eye
contact with people who he did not know very well. He was shy.
Autism
has a variety of issues that accompany it. For instance, many people with
Autism (but not all) also have Sensory
Processing Disorder. SPD is not Autism,
it’s a separate disorder with its own spectrum, but it can be a sign of Autism.
People with SPD either are oversensitive to sensory input (light, sound, touch,
etc.) or they are under sensitive. Some, like Malachi, instinctively seek out
the sensations they need to realign themselves.
Another
issue with Autism is called Wandering. When
an Autistic person wanders, they simply leave the area. Caregivers and parents
should watch the child/charge carefully. Malachi does not wander at home, yet.
He will, however, if he decides he is done with wherever he is, wander off in
public. This is a terrifying problem for the parents of Autistic children.
There are tools available for caregivers and first responders for when an
Autistic child wanders off.
According
to the CDC, 1 in 68
children are diagnosed with Autism. The best thing parents of any children
can do is work with their medical professionals. There are many theories on the
causes of Autism, but what caused it doesn’t matter. There is no need to blame
anyone or anything once your child has a diagnosis. Assigning blame doesn’t
help the child unlock his mind. Instead, get him or her into the various therapies
as early as possible, find a support system for yourself and research ways to
help your child.
The
little quirks we love to see in our children could be just them being children
or they could be clues to a deeper issue. Through my journey with Malachi and
his diagnosis with Autism, I have become more aware of my youngest son’s
behaviors and quirks. As parents, no one knows our children better than we do.
It is imperative to pay attention to what they are telling us, even if they can’t
find the words.
Some
good resources if you are concerned about your child are:
References
AWAARE. (n.d.). AWAARE - Autism Wandering and Elopement
Initiative. Retrieved from http://www.awaare.org/
Center For Disease Control. (n.d.). CDC | Data and
Statistics | Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) | NCBDDD. Retrieved from
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html
Seattle Children's Hospital. (n.d.). Autism Center |
Seattle Children's Hospital. Retrieved from http://www.seattlechildrens.org/clinics-programs/autism-center/
Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation | Research, Education
and Advocacy. (n.d.).
Retrieved from http://www.spdfoundation.net/
University
of Washington. (n.d.). Autism Center - University of Washington.
Retrieved from http://depts.washington.edu/uwautism/index.php
