Autism

Today we take my 4 year old son, Miles, to the neurologist. You see, about 3 months ago Miles was diagnosed with Autism, specifically, Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Since Miles was our 4th child, we knew from the time he was about 4 months old that something was not right. Whenever you hear "Autism" you immediately think of a kid sitting in the corner of the room, rocking back and forth, staring into space, and not saying a word. This is not true of all autistic children. Miles has very good language and speaks really well when you interact with him. However, while you talk with him, you can tell he isn't your normal 4 year old. Miles has a fascination with ceiling fans, air vents, smoke alarms, and various other items that may stick out of the wall or ceiling. He often repeats things over an over during conversations: "Daddy, remember when we went through the car wash and the noodles were cleaning our car!" He'll say this many times even though the last time we went through a car wash was 6 months ago.

Also, Miles can memorize stuff really good. For Christmas, we bought him a kind of electronic map with puzzle pieces of each state. When you put the state in its place on the puzzle, the game says, "Florida, the Sunshine State, State Capital, Tallahassee." Miles would play this game over and over and eventually, he had most, if not all of the sayings memorized. Today if you would point to any state on any kind of map and say, "Miles what state is this?" he would repeat exactly, word-for-word what his electronic map would say. Problem is, if you would ask him what state he lived in or what does a map show, he wouldn't be able to answer you. The comprehension part is just not there for him.

Right away, we wanted to get Miles some help and he was tested (not for autism, per se, but for Developmental Delay) and he qualified for services. So, twice a week during the school year, my wife would take him to a school to get occupational therapy and physical therapy to help him with things like, gross motor skills, small motor skills, drinking with a straw, and eating things the right way. Along with his autism, Miles has oral issues as well. He has always been sensitive to what kinds of food he eats, and what is put in his mouth. He still has trouble drinking through a straw and mostly uses a sippy cup. He also will only eat certain kinds of foods unless we force it on him and we don't like to do that.

As I said, he was diagnosed with ASD by the good doctors at Beaumont Hospital, Center for Human Development back in May 2005. It's interesting to note that the educational program he is in now is very good and we like it very much but they are not yet convinced that Miles has Autism. Yes, they agree he shows signs of Autism but in other areas, he doesn't. His teachers are sometimes baffled by this, but the spectrum is so wide and long, it sometimes is really hard to tell if he is autistic or is just showing signs of developmental delay. Today, the neurologist will be looking for some kind of physiological problems with his brain just to rule that part out. It's just another step in this process with our sweet little 4 year old. He really is a sweet little guy, we love him so much and we know there is a reason why he was born like this. God knows, and we trust Him with that.