“On November 1, 2007, the United Nations unanimously declared April 2nd to be designated as World Autism Awareness day to highlight the need to help improve the lives of children and adults who suffer from the disorder so they can lead full and meaningful lives.”<\/p>\n

On November 1, 2007, we were battling autism in our home, not yet completely aware that it was autism. Our 2 year old son would bang his head on the floor repeatedly whenever he got upset. He lined up his toys. The list of foods he would eat grew shorter and shorter. Sam couldn’t effectively communicate in any way other than screaming, which wasn’t very effective. He was slowly gaining words as he had started therapy three months prior to this date. My worry and fear about what was wrong was growing stronger and my patience was growing thinner. <\/a><\/p>\n

Samuel was diagnosed with autism on December 20th, 2007. It was both a beginning and an end for our family. It was the end of the “normal” life as we knew it. The end of the normal life we expected each of our children would have. It was the end of hopes and dreams I had for my son. But it was also the beginning of a new life. A life filled with new hopes and dreams. I started hoping<\/em> he would be able to talk. That he would be able to tell me what he needed when he needed it. That he would be able to express what he wanted. I dreamed of the day he would be able to tell me he loved me because he felt it, not because he was just repeating what I told him to say.<\/p>\n

One of the major points of autism awareness is that autism is lived out on a spectrum. It looks different for every child affected by it. You’ve probably heard this before, but as the saying goes, “if you’ve met one child with autism, you’ve met one<\/em> child with autism.” When Sam was diagnosed, we didn’t know what autism would look like in his life at any given age. At the time, he was completely non-verbal with extreme behaviors. Six years later after diagnosis, he is verbal. He can talk to me and tell me what he wants and needs. (Most of the time.) He tells me that he loves me because he wants to, not because I told him to. His meal menu is growing longer. He can still have extreme behaviors when he has meltdowns. He hits his head with his hands when he’s very frustrated. He can’t just stop talking in the middle of what he’s saying if we tell him to stop talking and listen to us. He has <\/em>to finish what he’s saying. He is passionate about one thing at a time, currently Frozen (you’ll see a picture below.) When he becomes obsessed with something, he learns everything he possibly can about it until there is no more left to learn or understand. He completely dissects his interests until there are no more questions to ask about it. And then he moves on. He thrives with routine, and struggles when things happen that are out of the norm, like snow days for weeks on end.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Some people think that people with autism can’t understand jokes or don’t like to laugh. Sam is funny. He’s slowly starting to enjoy doing things to make people laugh, whereas a year or more ago he would have a meltdown if we laughed at anything he did. He still struggles understanding why certain things are funny, and how to make a joke, but he keeps trying. He’s not laughing in this picture, but there were many giggles while playing with moustaches!<\/p>\n

Some people with autism might have difficulty with gross motor skills. Sam enjoys riding his Huffy big green machine and “drifting.” He worked VERY hard to be able to ride.<\/p>\n