So, Abbie is growing, learning, and is still delayed at her 2 year evaluation with TEIS. They recommend that we start going to the 2yr old development play group two days a week for three hours, on top of starting Speech and OT 2hr x 2 days a week, and have an in home therapist once a week for development and family training on how to play and grow. So we do, I say lets do it, let get her what she needs so she will be ready for preschool when she is three!
Then we start our development play group. She walks in and doesn't even look at anyone, goes straight to a puzzle and plays with that toy for a moment then moves on. Mouthing everything. Doesn't even look at me (but she really wasn't giving us eye contact at all anyway). I leave her and she doesn't even know I left.
I thought at the time we may have been experiencing attachment disorder - which sometimes happens with adopted children. So we spent everyday working on holding, eye contact, and responding to her name. Little did I know it was not attachment disorder.
So we go every week, making some progress but not major ones. My husband starts doing research and starts to see some signs that Abbie may not be developmentally delayed but something else. I say no she just needs more time, she will get it, it will click you just wait and see. The therapies say there may be more to this, I say no give her more time, I know she will come out of it you just wait and see. For 6 months she makes small strides but no major progress. Then it happens. The program that Abbie attends for the development play group asked if we would consider testing her for Autism. They say she shows all the signs, no eye contact, doesn't respond to her name, doesn't interact with the other children, doesn't focus on one thing for a long or even short period of time, is not talking or even do with other children are doing. She wants to be isolated and play by her self, and she has sensory issues with food and other items. I said No your wrong, there is nothing wrong with her she is perfect little girl she laughs, she plays so what that she doesn't play with others maybe she just shy, she is just delayed she was when we got her and she is till trying to catch up.
You don't know what it feels like when someone tell you that your child may have Autism and should be tested. She was 2 1/2 at the time. The denial, grief not for me but for her, the not understanding because of all the nonsense that is out there about Autism, and being scared.
Cried for days, My husband already knew we would be going down this road he saw the signs, I did not want to see it, did not want to do the test, I just kept saying she will snap out of it, you will see just wait. But my loving husband and dad, said "honey, we have waited - its time now - its time so we can do everything humanly possible for Abbie if she does have Autism and get the treatments started now so she can be successful in life, its all right your a great mom, you love her and she knows and one day she will tell you, but lets do this, it can't hurt and only help." And I CRIED, CRIED and CRIED! The fighting is over, I give into the fact that we do the testing and wait and see what happens, maybe she really is just delayed. That was June 2011
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