I was talking to someone online today, who's child is about my son's age. Who has concerns now that her little one, might be on the spectrum. I have conversations like this, several times a week. People who have seen my posts, on this page or that, this website, or another, all asking me the same thing. "How did you know."
For me, there was a very clear moment, when I just, knew. Before a single evaluation was done. It hit me that I hadn't heard a word out of my gorgeous boy in almost 2 months. He stopped responding to his name, to requests, to anything. He'd started to become obsessed with certain activities, that i now know are his "Stims" and he stopped playing with us. He stopped even trying to get anyone's attention. It was sudden, and it was drastic. In the space of just a couple months, my little boy completely changed.
But not every child is like mine. There is a saying, that we Autism families use a lot; If you have met one person with Autism, you have met, ONE person with Autism. It affects every single patient differently. So some kids, have a very clear regression like my son. Some kids NEVER hit their milestones on time, right from the start. Others have a much more subtle, drawn out regression, and some? have no regression at all. There ARE however, signs. Some things, that despite the vast expanse of variance in the spectrum, seem to be transcendental. Red flags that if recognized, can lead to early diagnosis and treatment, and therefore, improved quality of life.
But how many of you know them off the top of your head? When you thing Autism, what comes to mind? (Say Rain Man in front of me, and I will try to fight the urge to scream). How many of you have researched it? Been taught about it?
Plenty I am sure. Unfortunately I am equally, if not, more certain, that no matter how many of you answered yes, too many of you answered no. That's okay, this is not your fault. NO ONE wants to research potential "disabilities" when thinking about having a child, or when pregnant. No one. The unknown is freaking terrifying, ESPECIALLY when you are talking about this tiny human that is the center of your whole universe and everything in it. It's scary to consider.
But think now, my fellow Autism parents, if you HAD been prepared? If you had been armed with knowledge, and an eye for the warning signs. With 1 in every 55 children being diagnosed with Autism as of this year, it is a reasonable expectation, for the good of the patients, and the good of the population, that every single parent, be armed and ready, to seek intervention and help as early as is humanly possible. Children with Autism have SO MUCH to offer this world, and we owe it to them to have their backs, and their best interest at heart.
1 in 55 children. Think about that. 1 in 55. And there is virtually no, ready access to information on what to look for unless you search it out.
With that is mind, I have decided to draft, and ultimately, I hope, see through to it's completion, a bill that would make educational material on Autism, and early diagnosis a part of the prenatal program in this country. We are educated on breast feeding, on chromosomal abnormalities, on infant care, and vaccines for illnesses that now effect as few as 1 in a million in this country. But ZERO education that would benefit ONE IN EVERY FIFTY FIVE CHILDREN.
I knew nothing about Autism when my son was born. Not a single thing. I have had to spend the last 14 months educating myself. Seeking out books, experts, therapists, articles, interviews, anything I could so that I could be the best possible parent that I can be to my son. Wouldn't it be nice if this information was handed to parents? If they didn't have to spend collective months, with their nose buried in a laptop? If they realized what was happening sooner? And, not for nothing, if they didn't have the benefit of plausible deniability?
I want more for these kids. These amazing children, with incredible potential. They deserve early, and skilled intervention, and by assuring that every mother who seeks standard prenatal care is armed with the information she needs to make educated decisions for her child, we will be one step closer to fulfilling our obligation to them.
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