This handsome little man is John. He has such an amazing journey so far and he is only 3. Everyone kept telling us that there was something wrong with him pretty much from the start. He was always such a quiet baby. He hardly ever cried but he loved to smile and laugh. He seemed fine to us, he was our perfect little man. When he was about a month old he ended up with a large abscess on the back of his head that seemed to appear overnight. Little did we know that was just the beginning. We also had to fight aspiration, skin problems (that alone was a nightmare in itself), steroids to treat his skin, food allergies, asthma, and a few hospitalizations along the way.
By the time he was 9 months old his doctors became concerned about his development. He was not trying to crawl like other kids his age or talking yet. He didn't start crawling until he was 15 months old and around 16 months when he finally started to walk. Again, he still was not talking. He also preferred to play alone and didn't want to play with toys much. If we tried to show him something he would have a meltdown and couldn't keep focused.
Right before he turned 2 we put him into the Early Intervention program. He received speech, development, and occupational therapy. When he turned 3 he was placed into a Early Childhood preschool program at a local school for kids with special needs after finally being diagnosed with autism. I was so skeptical at first but we are so happy with the progress he has made.
He has gone from being non-verbal and having meltdowns all the time to talking and forming sentences. The first time he formed a sentence I wanted to cry. He now plays with other kids and talks. He is still behind for his age but he has come so far from where he started and we can't wait to see where he goes from here. He has changed our lives for the better.
Springfield, IL
