I found out i was going to be a teen mom a couple of months after my 15th birthday(2008).I was induced due to preeclampsia.My son was taken from me after birth due to an intraventricular hemmorhage.He also had seizures and was in and out of the hospital for the !st 6months and on meds for almost 3yrs.He was developing severely slow.He had physical and speech therapy along with other types of therapy to help his development.He got caught up in his gross motor skills at 2.After one of his evaluations i was told he was at risk for autism.ABA therapy weekdays(15-20hrs weekly).When it was time to start prschool he was evaluated by many people and was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.He now talks somewhat.He's improving more and more everyday but has severe language delays as well as critical thinking delays.At our last evaluation 2months ago he was showing alot more autistic behavior(22 out of 23).Its een a lon journey full of struggles which i know is never going to be over.Its the hardest thing ive ever had to deal with but hes such a joy,adorable,handsome,smart little guy who i love with all my heart.Hes taught me to look at life in such a different way i thank god for him my little miracle.Throughout all we've been through ive learned to take everything day by day and that i will never give up on my son.

Monica Ferrer
oakland, CA