The Years Before the Diagnoises of Autism and A.D.D.

As I sit here in my son's bedroom, I have to wonder was it all worth it?

I'm now a 31-year-old woman with two children a husband and home in the country, but I feel like an old lady — as if nothing else better in life is going to happen. In Sept. 2008, my 1-year-old son was not meeting his developmental milestones. Walking, crawling, talking, sitting up, or holding a bottle correctly were many things he could not do. I had to wonder — is this more severe then a learning disability?

Learning disabilities run in our family, so to me it was no surprise to have a child with a disability, and I would love them the same way as I would love any child. Our Dr. then referred us to early intervention. Early intervention services take place a few days a week and consist of physical therapy and special education. As months went by, services including speech and occupational therapy were added. My son was getting better as months went by, but it was slow progress. As time progressed the teachers believed my son had a moderate delay but when he turned 2, he was diagnosed with autism with a possibility of mental retardation.

What is autism? Where does it come from? Did I give my child autism? Guilt was all I could think for a moment, but then everything else kicked in, and I felt I had to move on for my child or life would not be the same. Will he ever talk? What about when he gets older? These are questions that only time can answer.

When my son turned 3 my husband, and I decided to put him in a school which provided ABA Therapies and start him on the gluten free casein free diet. The diet was a hard one to follow, but I did see changes within my son. Some people didn't understand why I chose to go that route for my son, but I felt it was the best. As of today, we are no longer on that diet but once we get a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods in our area we will be able to provide better for our son and do go gluten free time to time.

We here in the news we don't know where Autism comes from, however, recently I was diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) which is on the same spectrum. I've always been diagnosed with a learning disability growing up — I now can understand more of my disability.

My daughter was recently diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, she is a bright child but has difficulty focusing and attention is a big concern. We have struggled with her ADD for many years, while in counseling with her we have heard about medication, Iep's, and many other ways to deal with her ADD at this time. We have chosen to go a few different routes and will explain in future writings.