Reece had many of the typical issues for an autistic child but I reacted with anger anytime it was even brought up. There was nothing wrong with him! He wasn't broken & didn't need to be fixed! He was my perfect son! Why couldn't everyone see that? In reality I was doing everything possible to keep my own eyes shut. Reece struggled to keep anything down as a baby & we tried formula after formula. He stayed in & out of doctors offices and hospitals with various illnesses during his first year. He walked & talked on target, but had a speech impediment that made him very difficult to understand. He struggled making eye contact, obsessed over certain things, had no concept of personal space, and loud noises put him in pain. He constantly moved, flapped his hands, and had a twitch with his fingers that was always there. He struggled through four years of school before I finally accepted that a diagnoses I knew was coming didn't mean he was broken, and our pediatrician sent us to a specialist in Nashville TN.
I actually left his appt. when we got a definite diagnoses with relief in my heart. I knew that we could finally get Reece the help he needed to learn how to deal with Autism, & we would learn what we needed to help him. Reece is now 9 and in the 4th grade. He graduated from speech last year & gets to participate in a special class at his school that works on learning social skills. He still knows everything there is to know about the things he is interested in (Dinosaurs, Sea Creatures, and Godzilla at the moment) & still has his finger twitch but he has friends & I don't have to beg him to look at me when I want to take his picture anymore. He has always been kind, smart, funny, and sensitive - that hasn't changed. Reece is not, & never was, broken.
Murray, KY
