Eli was born November 26, 2009. He was sweet, affectionate, and adorable! It was around 15 months that I noticed a few things about Eli that were just different. He would look out of the corner of one eye up at any light or ceiling fan and walk in circles examining it. He didn't speak much, but what really concerned me was his lack of understand what we said. We could point to a toy on the floor and ask him to pick it up and he would simply look at us like we were speaking a foreign language. We just didn't know that to him, we were!
A preschool teacher that I trusted agreed to let him come to class on a trial basis at almost 3 to see what her opinion of his speech delay and comprehension was. It only took her a week to call and suggest he start speech therapy at a local school that has a wonderful Special Ed program. I had previous exposure to autism & expressed my concerns. They agreed to watch those red flags and see if he grew out of them. He didn't. June, 2013 we FINALLY got our official diagnosis. Those teachers were/are our greatest blessings.
The only thing he connected with were numbers and shapes. At 2 he could count 1-20 and back to 1. Now at 4 he counts to 121! But he LOVES # 5 and pentagons!
He is high functioning which made a diagnosis hard to get. He has his good days, and his really bad days. Speech therapy got him telling us what he wants. ABA has him actively engaging in 2 way communication as best he can after only 3 months. He tries to play WITH friends! He is our brilliant, happy, counting angel.
Coopersville, MI
