The love of our lives came into the world on July 13, 2011. He was a happy and healthy baby, and met milestones just as he should have - rolling, crawling, standing, walking - everything seemed as normal as could be. It wasn't until around 18 months we began showing more and more concern that our son wasn't speaking any words yet, he never progressed past babbling.
At 2 years old we finally received a referral to Nationwide Children's Hospital for an evaluation. We were hopeful for some speech therapy to come from it, but on December 4, 2013, we were given the life changing news that our little Noah was being diagnosed with Autism and Language Disorder.
In the past month and a half since diagnosis I have been through a roller coaster of emotions, from disbelief and denial to inspiration and acceptance. So many little things make so much sense now! Hand flapping (we always thought it was his way to express excitement since he wasn't verbal), limited eye contact (we thought he was just a typical shy/stubborn toddler), stacking and lining up toys, occupied with certain activities much longer than the average two year old, etc.
In the past few weeks we have began speech therapy, occupational therapy, and home visits in hopes that we have the earliest intervention possible for Noah's success through this. We are already noticing improvement in him! He is much more interactive and imaginative in his play, and he is becoming more verbal each day. No words yet, but I feel that 2014 is going to bring us a talking toddler, as well as more autism awareness to the world!
New Lexington, OH
