How did you know? PART THREE

By March 2010, Ethan's speech was still very sparse, but we were hoping the tubes in his ears would be just the thing to encourage his language growth. Also, Ethan was 21 months old, and his behavior was starting to become an issue. Nothing out of the ordinary....typical toddler stuff. So, my sister let me borrow her book Dare To Discipline by Dr. James Dobson. As I was reading this book, I came across a section that talked about exceptions to the rule...what that rule was, I don't know. But what I remember was he was giving an example of a child with autism & the child's particular characteristics. The ones I remember were walking on tippy-toes, delayed speech, and lack of eye contact. There were more, but those are only ones I can remember now. And I remember reading that section over & over again.....and crying. It was Ethan. That was the moment that I knew. The words on the pages were describing my child. Well...I stopped reading that book, and began reading about autism. The more I read the more I knew in my gut that this is what my child was dealing with at his young age.

I wasn't about to tell anyone about my findings other than my husband, my mom & my sister....the people that know me the most in this world. All of them discounted it, saying to give the tubes time to "work".  By Ethan's 2nd birthday, he was becoming more withdrawn from his peers and family. We saw his peers developing social skills that Ethan was clearly lacking. I remember one day a family member asked me if I ever thought about Ethan having autism. I was heartbroken. My shameful secret was out. I played it off as if I hadn't, but I was dying inside. We couldn't ignore the signs any longer.

Late the Summer of 2010, we were at our town's annual festival parade. I was looking forward to Ethan & I watching the floats, clapping & dancing to the bands, collecting candy in our bag, and enjoying a celebration that I look forward to every year. My plans didn't exactly go as planned. What's that saying? If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans! Ethan wouldn't go near the street, so we decided to just keep him close to the house but still outside. He wasn't happy there either. So, we watched the parade alone in the house...looking out the window. This, I decided, was my new life. Watching the world happen from the window of my house....just me, my husband & Ethan. I was devastated. We were alone.

A few weeks later, a friend of ours who was at the parade with us, told us about an Early Intervention Program. She told us that this program provided free screening. They would check his development in every area. HALLELUJAH! A resource that could help us! So, I immediately contacted them. Ethan & I went in for the the screening. Out of 7 areas....Ethan was delayed in all of them....severely delayed in 2 or 3. (I can't remember exactly.) You would think this would be a low point, but it wasn't. They were going to assign us a coordinator who would be able to do further screenings as well as hook us up with any needed services that Ethan would need. HELP WAS COMING FOR MY BABY!!!!! This was a major turning point! This is were we met Glenda - Our Fairy Godmother.

Glenda met with me & we talked all about Ethan....pregnancy, birth, development and so on. After the interview, she set up a time for her & two therapists to come & play with Ethan. The day arrived and everyone was present.....me, Corey, Glenda the Fairy Godmother, a speech therapist and a developmental therapist. They played with him for about an hour. When it was over, it was decided that Ethan would be placed in a developmental playgroup twice a week, participate in speech therapy, and his name would be submitted to the Easter Seals Autism Diagnosis Clinic.