Our son Joshua is 4 non-verbal Autistic He can say a few words but most of his words are 'half words' or 'sounds like' words. He is super cuddly and he's very friendly. he gets social cues and he understands how to respond to them and he always tries to make people laugh with bold facial expressions.
Raising a child with autism is really challenging and rewarding at times, as most people who read these already know. My son is easily excited and he begins to arm flap and jump up and down, even over something simple. He does not do well when there's a change of scenery or a change in 'plan'. He wanders and in public I have to keep a strict eye on him. At home, he has been known to roam out into the back yard or down the drive way before we put up alarms on our doors to let us know if the door is opening. He can open child safe doors and locks.
He's limited in fine motor skills, and he still uses a fisted-grip when scribbling. He still can't make shapes or differentiate between colors. He tries so hard. We are just in the beginning of our journey and have so much more to learn. He goes full time to a special ed preschool through the school system and sees OT and Speech, and he goes to outpatient therapies in the summer.
We are always scared that we don't know his needs, we feel like he's trapped in his mind. His eyes speak, he's expressive and has really great eye contact when he wants to communicate something. I can feel it in my bones that he is improving his speech. These past two months he's been trying to string multiple words together!
Prospect, CT
