My Boy

I'm up late tonight...Mind racing a wee bit...It's a year ago today we got babs formal diagnosis of autism. We were expecting it, had known for quite a while, but hearing it and seeing in black and white that your child "fits the criteria of a child with autism" was like a hammer to the heart. I wanted to cover my ears and hum to drown out the news, but I cried instead - a lot. Times like this, when I'm on my own with my thoughts I still cry. Some say it's like a bereavement - grieving for the child you thought you would have, the plans and dreams for him..gone. So what do you do? After the blame, the anger, denial you accept. Accept that your child is still the same little fella you have come to know and love for the last 3 and half years. He hasn't changed because we got a 'label' for him. He still needs his Mammy and Daddy to love him, take care of him, do all in their power to help him achieve everything that is possible for him. So you find your second wind and plough ahead. Nothing and nobody is going to limit what my boy can do and woe betide anyone who tries.

Thick brown hair and even browner eyes, with a smile that would melt the hardest heart, that's my boy. He's no daw..he won't be fooled so don't even try. He is a Mammy's boy (and I know you know that Daddy). Loves his telly and DVD's. Loves water even more! And boy can he climb... and fall...he's lucky if there's a white patch on his legs for all the bruises. Very protective of everyone...his sister finishing off the last drop of coke from my glass drives him crazy. Every night when he gets undressed for bed he puts all his clothes in the toy shopping trolley and wheels them into the laundry basket..I love that..it's his thing. Of course little brother has to do the same with his clothes. Babs is verbal, he just can't start or hold a conversation. Getting to look into those beautiful brown eyes is practically by invitation only, unless you know the right eye games to play and even then he is quick to look away.

He doesn't like getting his haircut or anyone near his ears. I have never got to cut his finger or toe nails in 4 and half years. He pulls them off himself...ouch! If there was a competition for a child who could bounce the most he's a contender. Elephants don't stand a chance against his memory. He loves stories, if they are not too long. He is at the stage now where we have books with accompanying DVD and he knows them all off by heart. Clever as he is, he has started to read the books with his finger under each word as if he were able to read..to the untrained eye he is a genius..but I know it's all from memory...From no age he knew all his numbers and letters, forwards and backwards. He can spell his own name as well as Mammy and Daddy.

He's off to mainstream school in September..his pre-school support worker has got the job of being his SNA..what a result! She is really good with him so at the moment I am happy with the decision to send him...I hope he copes okay...can't wait to see him head off in his uniform and schoolbag. That's My Boy!