You see that handsome guy right up there? We call him Stevie J he was diagnosed with Autism when he was 18 months old and I was 7 months pregnant with his younger sister Sarah. He was able to be diagnosed so early because his daycare informed us that he wasn't speaking, smiling or making eye contact. Also he was mouthing EVERYTHING like a 5 month old. Needless to say we went through a very rough time dealing with his initial condition. We had him referred by his pediatrician to a neurologist and also had some wonderful people from the Florida Easter Seals to lend us a helping hand. While he was still in daycare professional therapists were sent directly to him to help with behavioral and speech problems. He then was transferred into the hands of the School District of Indian River County once he turned 3. While he still remains in the school system he has made leaps and bounds with help from an AMAZING pre-k teacher. When he initially entered the public pre-k ASD school system program at 3 he was doing 24 piece puzzles and starting to become obsessed with technology. He still wasn't verbally speaking yet but staff members soon learned he was very intelligent. He is now five and getting ready for his first year of Kindergarten and boy are we EXCITED!
We found some resources/materials to be crucial to his way of dealing with the big world.
1) His beloved chewy tube
2) His PECS Book & System
3) His AT Device (He is the youngest known in the county to be able to use such a device)
*I will hit on these these things in more detail with later blogs.
Whatever your case is..educate yourself about Autism and learn to look for signs of vital development in children. Prayer works...Stevie J says "Hi" and "Bye" now.
He says "hi", "bye", and "hand over the wii controller before I hurt you" lol Can't wait to read more!!!!!
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