“Tell me more.” Those three words were the beginning of this journey of life with an autism diagnosis. We were at my son’s three year wellness check. We were wrapping up, no concerns as Ethan always met his milestones, rolled over at 4 months sat up at 7 months, walked the week he turned one. We did mention he was still saying one to two word phrases – our pediatrician suggested we reach out to first steps to come and do an evaluation. We did and they said it just seemed like he needed a little prompting but nothing to be too concerned about. But as we were gathering our things we were laughing about how Ethan said “happy meal!” My husband casually said “he sure likes things a certain way!” Our pediatrician said, “tell me more.” We looked at each other, a bit puzzled by the question and my husband went on, explaining how he has to have the same routine at bedtime, we brush teeth, gather our things and run up the stairs, his boo boo in hand (his lovey) and have the same songs, books, way of giving kiss and saying our prayer then off to bed. He asked what would happen if we did it different and with no hesitation, we said, “Well, that would be a problem!” Ten minutes later we were handed a script to see a behavioral specialist. We were annoyed, seriously? So what, he likes his routine! Ethan is our first, so we really had nothing else to compare his behavior. We begrudgingly made the appointment. I remember thinking of calling it off, we had no reason to be there, Ethan was fine! We arrived at the Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital. I was prepared with the forms that we were asked to fill out with questions that made no sense to me. Does my child get upset if I change plans for the day? Well of course! He’s 3! Does he stare intensely at certain toys? Yes! He LOVES excavators! We were there for 20 minutes. She watched him play, asked us questions, tried to converse with him, then excused herself. She said she wasn’t quite ready to make a diagnosis to come back in three months. In those three months I became more conscious of the things I saw in the evaluation. Yes, he did intensely stare at his excavators as they were all lined up in a perfect row. Yes, he has meltdowns if things are not as planned. No, he doesn’t pretend play but can recite The Lion King beginning to end. We went back to Dr. Vora three months later. She talked more, watched him play, asked the questions, excused herself then came back and said “at this time I am going to diagnose Ethan with autism spectrum disorder.” She handed us a book about autism, suggested therapy and sent us on our way. We were in complete shock. We walked out and I remember feeling numb. What does this mean? Will he ever complete school? Will he have friends? Will he live with us forever? We were shocked and we were mad! How can she make a diagnosis in 20 minutes? Who is she to act like she knows him better than we do? My mind was racing and it hasn’t stopped. That was two years ago and the beginning of our journey of life with autism…….
Our Journey Begins
Life At An Angle 