About Eric and Andy

This was the first entry I posted in this blog when I started it in January, with some updates from then added. I have invited many others to come read this so I want them to see their stories if they wish. Since this is Autism Awareness Month I figure there is no better time to get to know my 2 wonderful boys. Ten years ago I never understood what autism really was. Never did I think I would have a child affected by it. I now have 2. While this was not how I visualized my life, I would not have it any other way. I have met so many wonderful people through my children. The best things in life don't come easy...

My oldest son Eric was born July 26, 2002. He was one of a kind at birth. He had to come out to the world facing up which made mommy work very hard to get him here. After 4 hours of mom pushing and assistance from a vacuum extractor he came into this world. Sleep was definitely not his thing. When he would sleep it would only be for about an hour. He never completed his newborn hearing screening because he would not sleep. Eating was not his thing either. It took him a while to get used to the bottle thing. Eric always loved looking at moving objects such as fans, and lights and color like on the TV. He spent much time laying on the floor kicking his little legs. He couldn't care less about looking at people. He had severe reflux so he was not the happiest little guy at times. He had these spells that the doctor told us was from the reflux. It looked like he was having a seizure when this happened. There is no way of knowing now. During Eric's first year we were taking care of his elderly grandmother in her home. I also suffering from postpartum depression, but did not realize what it was until I had my 3rd son 5 years later. His birth also puts some questions in my mind, but there is no way of knowing for certain or proving anything. It does not matter now. I already wasted more than enough times on dwelling on the "what ifs". Beating myself up over what should have been just got in the way of finding and getting the help Eric needed. God put him on earth for a reason. When he was 6 months old the pediatrician started talking about developmental delays. His dad and I were in denial. I honestly thought that many of the behaviors he was exhibiting were normal for babies, so I didn't think much of it. As time went on he was still unable to sit up or crawl when many children his age were walking. He made no attempts at verbal communication, not even babbling until well after his 1st birthday. He would concentrate intently on toys and objects, particularly moving objects. People he had no interest in whatsoever. Eye contact was non exsistant. He started getting very picky about the food he would eat. This is typical for babies and toddlers so I thought no big deal. Relatives started noticing and remarking that this was not normal. When he was 14 months old Early intervention came in and evaluated him and he began physical therapy shortly after. He never progressed with that, and occupational therapy, early childhood instruction and speech therapy were eventually added. He learned to walk at 17 months. He never learned to speak. He still has many sensory integration issues. There were many meltdowns. We could not take him out in public because he could not tolerate noise and crowds and screamed. He was not flexible with his routine at all. His way of playing was spinning car wheels and lining up toy cars, mouthing objects and kicking and flapping his arms to show he was happy. The list of foods he would accept became smaller and smaller. In time he would only accept cheerios to eat and fruit juice to drink. We had to work with a feeding clinic to get him to a point where he would tolorate oil in the juice, eventually milk, then pediasure and now Carnation instant breakfast and yougert and baby cereal mixed with milk and strawberry syrup and a cracker in his mouth. When he turned 3 he started attending the early childhood program with the school district. He went there for 2 years until he started kindergarten. He is now in 1st grade going to school full time and loving it. We have a few words he uses consistently now. His behaviors have calmed down considerably in the last 2 years. He is more social now. At age 3 he got a diagnosis of global developmental delays, possible mental retardation and possible PDD-NOS or autism. At 2 months shy of his 5th birthday he got the official autism diagnosis that qualified him for the state medicaid waiver for in home autism services.

Andrew was born September 27, 2005. For a short while he did not want to come down after mom was fully dilated and a cesarean was considered when there were heart decels. Stubborn Andy finally decided to come down on his own and was born after about an hour and a half of pushing. Andy was a better sleeper from the get go. He actually finished and passed his newborn hearing screening. He was a better eater too. Andy and I bonded very quickly. He was so responsive. Finally I was seeing how a baby was supposed to act. He seemed to play with toys more appropriately and loved the company of people, especially cuddling. He was never big on baby food but was eating table food that mom and dad ate by his 1st birthday. Everything was looking great until the Early Head Start worker suggested an early intervention eval for Andy at about 14 months. After the first evaluation he did not qualify for services but was going to be watched by EHS and the EI service coordinator. Andy had a few words at this time and did not seem to resist much. At 16 months Andy started refusing many foods he previously ate. He started refusing a spoon and sippy spout cups. He lost the words he had. He started stimming, toy walking and becoming less socialable like Eric. He started walking around aimlessly most of the time and showing many repetative behaviors. He was not adaptable to different situations anymore. Two months later he started with early childhood instruction and occupational therapy. Speech was added a couple months later. While all of this was unfolding I learned of my very unexpected pregnancy with my 3rd son, and his birth June 6th, 2007. After this birth I went through another bout with postpartum depression. This time I was properly diagnosed and treated. I also had a round after I lost a pregnancy in September 2008. I am still on medication and in counseling for this and to help me through this journey with my sons. Andy made minimal progress in the birth to 3 program and is now attending early childhood special ed preschool and is loving it. We took him to the CHW developmental clinic for an evaluation and got the same generic diagnosis as Eric did. The only reason we went this route is that we wanted to rule out any medical reasons for their difficulties. Andy saw a neuropsychologist in January and got the official diagnosis that will quilify him for state funded therapy. Now we are just waiting for the reports. In March Andy and I saw a gentetisist and started testing. If anything comes up with him the other boys will be tested then too.

This has not been an easy ride. Seeing the progress that Eric has made already gives me hope. These are special boys and I was entrusted by God to care for them. I would not trade it for anything in the world.