Together... You & MeEngage your child and share the moment
“Important elements of intervention programs for...read on...Community > Success Stories
Act Now
My son’s diagnosis came at a time in my life when I still believed a Pediatrician had to know everything there was about Children. I drowned my inner sense of alarm with the words of an experienced Doctor who treated more Children in one long day then an I could see in a year, yet some sinking place in my heart knew something was askew, just a bit off kilter. It could have been the way Andy stiffened his legs in the high chair, or the alarming way he rocked in his car seat, or maybe the way he sought the company of the TV instead of his small friends, but no matter what excuses others presented for these strange manifestations, deep in the pit of my churning stomach I knew; something was not right.Andy was 3 before we were able to access services and back then all Behavioral programs were raw, new, controversial and never paid for by outside entities. Parents nurtured Parents the way we still do today, after all no one knows more about the heart of the Parent of an Autistic Child than another like minded Parent. Ask any Mom or Dad what they would have done differently in the early years and all including myself would say we should have trusted our first instinct, that instinctual small voice that whispers in your ear that something is wrong.
Today I can write to you knowing for sure that it really does make a difference when you voice your worst fears about your most dreadful suspicions, doubts and concerns for your Child. Unfortunately I was given a second chance to speak what my heart knew so early on in the development of my Younger Child. Hannah Grace arrived in the world eight years after her Big Brother. Despite the fact I already had suspicions at six months old that my daughter was effected by Autism like her brother, I did, for a short time, listen to others who insisted that I was paranoid or overly suspicious about Hannah’s well being. By the time my Daughter was 14 months old she was enrolled in a preschool program, had Occupational, Physical, Speech, and behavioral programs in place, and was showing signs of her intelligence and emerging social skills.
Now seven Hannah is included in at least three periods of her school day, she is scoring in the six year range for math skills, and is proficient in sign Language and the use of a voice output device. There is no doubt She is smart, there is also no doubt she is Autistic. Hannah’s Big Brother is enrolled in a more restrictive program despite the fact we spent two years of his young life emerged in 35 hour a week home behavioral programming, the question we ask our selves about Andrew is not how we could have had a better outcome for him, but what he would be like today if we did nothing, the ultimate goal, as we see it, is to nurture our Children to be the most independent and successful person they can be.
If you are reading this article because you have that sinking feeling in the deepest part of your soul that there is a problem with your Child, then you are probably correct, something is not quite right. Each day those concerns about your Childs future rise up to the surface and you push them back down is another day you could be enlightened , educated, and unburdened of the feeling you are alone, because you are not.
Help is never more than a phone call or an e mail away. It doesn’t matter what name they give your Child's particular challenge, remember labels are for jars not people. Step forward and act now. Today counts more than you can imagine!
Ruth Stinger-Strunck
Parent Advocate
Butterfly Effects Advisor
Rate Me...
