Nathan is three and a half years old. He was diagnosed with mild autism about 4 months ago. We noticed that things were different with Nathan compared to our other children when they were that age, but we just thought he was really stubborn from the time he was two years old. Since he started on solids when he was a year old, he only eats crackers, plain waffles, dry cereal, fries and chicken nuggets (they have to be a certain texture), he used to panic when we would try to put him on the ground outside with no shoes on. He is very particular about the way things are done, likes to turn all of the lights on in the house, lines up his cars, smells Scentsy candles for hours, growls at people when they try to talk to him, has a hard time controlling his emotions when he is upset, answers "yes" when we ask him open-ended questions, has texture issues and much more. Nathan is very funny and his laugh is contagious. Blonde hair and blue eyes...he is going to be a heart breaker when he is older. When we had him evaluated, I had done a lot of research about autism and I had a feeling that was what was going on, but I wasn't sure. I felt so torn about how I would react to the results because if he had autism, that would explain so much, but if he didn't, I would feel like I just didn't know how to parent him correctly. I wasn't expecting to feel shocked at the results, but I was shocked. After about a month, the shock wore off and now we just take things one day at a time with a lot of therapies for Nathan. Aba, occupational therapy and feeding therapy. I read a quote that I absolutely love! Raising a child with autism does not TAKE a special family. It MAKES a family SPECIAL.

Jamie Bunch
Travis AFB, CA