11 Jan 2007, 7:21 pm
I have been here a while but just re-registered. I am 29 y/o and the mother of a 12 y/o (on Saturday) child with AS. My son has never been a typical child but I at such a young age really had no way of knowing the difference. My son left the hospital being able to hold his head up. He rolled over at about 6 weeks he was sitting at about 2 1/2 months standing at 5 and scribbling while I did homework at 9 months, he also spoke long words by then. He never crawled and hated being dirty. At age 2 1/2 he knew his alphabet and numbers and could play at the computer. When he entered Kinder he was ableto read and knew every make and model of car at sight. He was very social until about 6 y/o. In 1st grade he was reading Harry Potter and 132 words per minute with 99% comprehension. He was doing multiplication at the end of 1st grade however he was not making friends... he was loosing them. He had no notion of personal space and how to approach children. I knew nothing about AS but knew something was not "right" I taught him about personal space and how to talk to kids so he could have friends. School was hard. Talking to him and having him listen was hard. This boy taught himself to play chess at 6 y/o yet at 9 y/o could not ride a bike or tie his shoes. I researched and learned about autism. I told his pediatrician about it and she shruged it off until he had a meltdown in her office. Their was no hiding now somethingwas up. He was reffered to be evaluated that took about a year but I knew what he had before he was diagnosed. However once the diagnosis came through it was like the sky opened up and I now had the tools to help him. He strugglerd through school but is now doing good. He has his ups and downs as do I but all in all he is my greatest motivation and gift in life. God gave him to me for a reason, because he knew I could be his mom. My Child is a diamond in the rough that is little by little shining through.
I like to be around AS kids and adults I learn from them 
11 Jan 2007, 7:53 pm
