Well here it finally is! I have been trying to find ways to be the best advocate for my four year old son who was diagnosed with autism and viola- after planning and writing down fine details in my black binder I'm doing it. I'm openly sharing Conner's story and everything my little family of four goes through on a daily basis. As a mother of two I find myself questioning a lot and trying to find answers is hard! I can only hope that by sharing Conner's story I'm educating and hopefully reaching out to other families going through the same thing.
Please feel free to share and most of all comment- without questions there can't be answers!
Shall I start with info about me? Okay lets do this!!
My name is Lizza and I am 23. Yes I'm young to have two kids but lets face it- I've been married to the same man for almost 5 years! We have a son Conner who is almost 5 and a son Colten who just turned 1. We are a military family that resides in the great state of South Carolina. I am a crafty stay at home mom that loves to write and build tents and let me tell you- I have an awesome dinosaur roar. My children are my everything but this past year has been the hardest for sure.
Not wanting to start this off sad but the one thing I desperately want to share is the reality of my beginning. Conner was evaluated February 2nd of this year and when we went back on the 9th our world got flipped upside down. Hes always been different but cooky different. He didn't ever stay still or listen. We had him evaluated when he was 15 months old and were then told it was just language delay. Now yes this time we were going because his pediatrician thought he might possibly have aspergers because he still wasn't talking but even then I didn't think I'd hear at that time what I thought was the worst. We thought eh hes got ADHD and that runs in the family so its cool they got pills for that (ha ha thats not funny but I still laugh). Now we all take news differently, in the pit of my stomach I knew, but did I want to openly admit it? NO... My husband on the other hand did want to hear it, and it honestly took months for him to embrace the news. When that lady looked at us and said those few words he shut down and was ready to walk out of the office and never look back. Me, I just wanted to hear the lady out, grab my two kids and go to the car to cry. Conner was only born 7 weeks early, his ears were fine- his eye sight was normal- he just could NOT talk nor did he care to learn. We were supposed to be in the office with her the day of the evaluation for 2 hours, we were there for 45 minutes and clearly she knew. I wish she would have told us that day, but instead we spent the rest of that week wondering and worrying about what this lady was going to say about our precious son that she had just met and barely knew. Our lives haven't been the same since his diagnosis for obvious reasons but thankfully it is looking up.
Now Autism is common, way more common then we think. 1 in 88 children born today will be part of the spectrum. Honestly that's a lot. Did I know much about autism before Conner's diagnosis- NOPE. Now that's what I'm here to change. Knowledge is key! I want to be able to go to the grocery store and people not stare and say hurtful comments when my child acts up (that's a story for another day). So lets stop and think.
Until tomorrow my friends! Please again feel free to share, comment, question me, yell at me... whatever works just so I simply know someone is reading.
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