When Michael was born everything was fine, he met all of his developmental milestones on time and there was nothing wrong. Around 18 months he began to regress. He stopped talking and out of frustration he would hit himself in the head, hit others, and throw massive tantrums. He was just 2 1/2 years old his pediatrician showed some concern of Autism. I had NO idea what that even was. He was sent to a specialist who diagnosed him and then sent me to another specialist. Michael was officially diagnosed with Autism right before he turned 3. Still I had NO idea what I was dealing with. I read some articles but nothing really explained to me what was going on. At the end of the 2012-2013 school year, his school took away his IEP and said he no longer had Autism. I didn't know my rights and so I didn't fight it, until he began falling behind in class. His step sisters mom would call him retarded and even kids at school would say he was weird or retarded. This past summer we followed up with another specialist and he confirmed the Autism diagnosis once again. We are sending him to a school that cares and will help him. We still aren't completely educated about Autism but we know Michael is special and just like our other kids in many ways. We are hoping to learn more and to help support others with Autism.

Ami Ocasio
Buckeye, AZ