Autism Awareness Month

     
     As many of you know, April is Autism Awareness month. I am pleased that there is more awareness out there now. When Matthew was diagnosed at age 3 Autism diagnoses were 1 in 250. There was not much therapy and resources out there. Our only early intervention option was ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis), which we did try for a while. As soon as Matthew was diagnosed I hit the ground running looking for therapies and interventions for him. If we had County funding for it we tried it! Matthew's case manager at the time would joke with me that she needed to come to me to find out what resources and therapies were out there. You name it we tried it: Aqua Therapy, Hippotherapy, Lets Do Lunch groups, OT, Speech, Speech therapy groups, Floortime, ABA, Social skills groups wherever we found one, Cranial Sacral therapy, Acupuncture and Massage. We even took him to a DAN (Defeat Autism Now) Doctor for awhile. That experience is for another post on my blog. :)  The list could go on!
     I am his Mom and advocate. I will always advocate for him! We Autism moms ride the waves of challenge. Through the years it seems like I would get him in a good place, meaning things were going well and then a challenge would hit. Some harder than others. I could tell you about many school battles we have had. Sometimes you get to the point where you ask yourself "Does anyone out there understand Autism!" What a relief it is to make a connection with a teacher, therapist or parent that gets it. Even extended family doesn't always understand what you are going through.
          To this day it breaks my heart that he does not get to enjoy the same social events as his brother. Now that Matthew is a teenager the social skills delay are obvious. When he was younger he had friends. The children could tell he was different but still accepted him. The older he has gotten kids notice he is different and he is not included very much. I am so grateful to the teenagers on his High School swim team that include him, offer to give him rides and make sure he is part of the team.  He does not get invited out to do things, doesn't have many friends, doesn't go to school functions but he has his swimming. He is included when he is swimming on the YMCA team and High School team. I will say it has been a challenge to get him to do the social events that his special education class offers. When he goes he ends up having a lot of fun. It's getting there that's the battle.
     I am hopeful for Matthew's future. More and more Colleges and Universities are creating programs for those with Autism. We have three more years to work on transition. Lots of programs to look into! This Summer he has his first work experience at the Columbus Zoo for the month of June. You can get overwhelmed in the transition process of special education. I am trying to take it one day at a time.