My daughter Nea was a happy, giggly baby. She hit milestones pretty rapidly. She was sitting up at 4 months, walking by 9 months and signed her first word (milk) by 6 months. By the time she was 18 months she had a signing vocabulary of about 50 words, and could speak at least half of them. However, at 20-22 months, we noticed that she didn't say as many words as she had in the past. It wasn't all of a sudden, it was just something we noticed over time. By the time she hit her 2nd birthday, she was down to maybe 5 words. She signed even less. We took her in for her 2 year check, and I relayed my concerns to her pediatrician. She agreed there was cause for concern and sent us to a speech therapist for eval.
The speech therapist noted immediately some sort of motor planning issue. She worked with her for a couple weeks and then had an honest, heart-felt discussion with me. "I think she may have Autism. She needs to be evaluated by a developmental pediatrician." I was stunned. I am a veteran pediatric nurse (25+ years) and did not have Autism on my radar. Hind-sight is 20/20 and as I reviewed all of the things and all of the "quirks" that made Nea...well, Nea, it all came together. The repetitive play, the awkward shyness (even with Grandma), the fascination with wheels, the loss of words.....
The developmental pediatrician was wonderful. I will always remember her words, "Yes, she has Autism. Getting help early is key. Keep moving forward."
And that's what we have done. 6 hours of therapy a week with OT, Speech and Developmental therapy, plus a special needs swim class. She has made amazing progress and I am so happy for her. We continue to move forward. If she begins to stall, then her therapists change it up to get more growth.
Every day we learn that light shines through the darkness. There are shining stars everywhere, we just have to look.
And Nea is our brightest star.
Springfield, IL
