How Our Journey Began

Zachary was born relatively easily, and with no complications what so ever. He developed normally through infancy. A few minor oddities were becoming more and more apparent prior to his first birthday, such as his lack of direct eye contact, and his many muscle spasms/hand and arm flapping movements. Otherwise he was a very happy, content child.

At around 18 months the same two issues were still prevalent, but now we could add walking on his toes frequently enough that we noticed, and not pointing at all to the list. Also while the other children his age were beginning to say basic words, we were still pushing for those first few words. But as with earlier in his life, he was very happy, easy going, and had no health issues at all! We figured that he was just shy and would come around in the socialization and verbal areas.

After his second birthday we began getting more and more concerned on a daily basis at his lack of interest in playing with other children, his lack of desire to appropriately play and explore with his toys, his continued resistance to speak words, and the lack of putting two words together. But he was still happy and fun to be around. I had heard through a friend about her nephew being diagnosed with Autism one day so I immediately went on-line to see the list of symptoms of Autism to find out if Zachary could have that. I felt strongly after reading that list that he had enough things on the list to be concerned. But also that he did not have enough of the bigger issues on that list for me to do anything about it just yet. His speech would come around, and when it did his social skills would pick up. And he's not anything like Dustin Hoffman on Rainman, so what was I worried about. Plus this list says that children with Autism tend to fall into their own world, pulling away from everyone - Zachary didn't do that. He'll grow out of this shyness.

At two and a half, still no increase in vocabulary. Still no improvement in the area of social skills. And now add to all of this his increased stimming (jumping up and down in place and/or flapping his hands/arms) and his emerging obsessions with both ceiling fans and telephones. It was beyond just being fond of these items - he was obsessed (and can still to this day point out along a drive anywhere the stores/restaurants with ceiling fans and tell me whether they were on or off when he saw them last). It was time to do something.

We have a family friend that is an Occupational Therapist. She led the way to a Developmental Pediatrician of which we were miraculously able to get a quick appointment (most dev ped's have a one - two year waiting list to get a diagnosis). And on June 17th, 2005 he was diagnosed.

The diagnosis appointment was a three day span. The doctor checks everything from physical to cognitive to behavioral to speech issues. Please know that Zachary is and always has been fine in the cognitive area - that is he has no intelligence issues. He knows everything that a typical child his age knows, he just doesn't have the words and ability to formulate sentences to get his thoughts out. But he is smart - he knew each letter independently in the alphabet, how to count to 20 and many other advanced shapes, colors, etc prior to three years old. Anyway, his diagnosis was not just that of a speech delay, as children with only a speech delay are still social and trying everything to be a part of social situations - whereas Zachary was not trying. So for that reason combined with the other Autistic traits mentioned previously, he was given a diagnosis of mild-moderate Autism (High Functioning Autism - HFA).

Immediately after the diagnosis we began Speech Therapy twice weekly, and for the last year that has remained consistent. We also began Occupational Therapy once weekly to address the sensory issues he has. Once he turned three, he became eligible to receive services through the county by way of a Special Education classroom that is held conveniently as his current Wee-School location. So from February until the end of this school year he was in both classes. His Special Education teachers were very proud of how quickly he adapted and how well he did in their class. They definitely feel that he can be integrated into a typical Kindergarten class when that time comes. His other therapists have been impressed with his progress as well. He is thriving with all of the therapy and schooling that he is receiving. Once school was out, we added to his program ABA (Applied Behavioral Therapy) of which he has three one hour sessions per week. Again, he is doing very well there also - learning such things that come easily to other kids such as sitting at a table when told to do so, wanting to participate in activities, etc.

We are encouraged by his progress over the last year. He has a very good chance of blending in the future. But for now, he will continue on the same intense schedule that he's become used to (and is surprisingly happy with)! We will do everything in our power to help our little boy, and if you are the praying type, we welcome your continued prayers for his recovery.

I think one of the most asked questions will be what causes Autism? And the answer is a big, huge no one knows. There are many theories - some believe that it's genetic and some believe that the numerous immunizations that a child is given is their first year of life containing Mercury caused the Autism. But the fact is, nothing is proven. We did the genetic testing with Zachary and everything came back normal. So we know that it is not from Matt, Courtney nor is it in his chromosomes/genes. So it's a big mystery. But every 21 minutes, according to the statistics, a child is diagnosed with Autism. And 1 in every 166 kids has Autism. It's definitely an epidemic.

I will continue to update this blog and hope that you will continue to encourage us and Zachary along the way. This is a very long, hard and challenging road that we all three face. There is no cure for Autism. We will just continue along this path and tweak as necessary hoping that Zachary will get better. He is just a happy little boy who is so content with everything I have to drag him to day after day, and for that we thank God. And we thank you for taking an interest in our journey. Please feel free to post comments and/or questions as we will happily answer any questions you may have about Zachary, therapy, or Autism in general.