When Aidan was about three, we started to notice some “quirks”. Things that the average person might not see. As a parent, they just didn’t seem right. Aidan would flip out at almost any loud noise. A public toilet and the hand dryers inside public bathrooms were nightmares waiting to happen. Reading and researching the autism spectrum disorder symptoms can be as stressful as actually working with a child that has the disorder.
Now with leukemia, the one constant is medicine. Whether it’s injected or swallowed, it’s always there. Aidan could not swallow a pill...so crushing and hiding became a new game. Applesauce, pudding, ice cream...whatever it took. Even with all the tricks and traps, Aidan would soon catch on and work himself up into such a tizzy..he would make himself throw up. Now the one thing that we need to save his life......he’s afraid of.
It just seems like there are more questions than answers at this time. Every day there are more and more trials and studies being completed. As a parent, you just hang on and go for the ride. Through it all, the one thing that the autism spectrum disorder diagnosis gave us was something we had never had before. It gave us a better understanding of what Aidan goes through on an everyday basis...thus allowing us to help him have as normal a childhood as he can.
If there is one thing I can say to both autism and leukemia, it’s this: “You have picked a fight with the strongest child I’ve ever seen. It’s a fight that you will NEVER win.”
Stay tuned...
Winston Salem, NC
