April is Autism Awareness Month!!

Welcome to April and Happy Autism Awareness Month!!!! Last year for WAAD, I focused on intervention and awareness of the signs of autism, especially in young children. So, first off a refresher course from the Autism Speaks website:

Watch for the Red Flags of Autism

(The following red flags may indicate a child is at risk for atypical development, and is in need of an immediate evaluation.)

In clinical terms, there are a few “absolute indicators,” often referred to as “red flags,” that indicate that a child should be evaluated. For a parent, these are the “red flags” that your child should be screened to ensure that he/she is on the right developmental path. If your baby shows any of these signs, please ask your pediatrician or family practitioner for an immediate evaluation:

No big smiles or other warm, joyful expressions by six months or thereafter

No back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles, or other facial expressions by nine months or thereafter

No babbling by 12 months

No back-and-forth gestures, such as pointing, showing, reaching, or waving by 12 months

No words by 16 months

No two-word meaningful phrases (without imitating or repeating) by 24 months

Any loss of speech or babbling or social skills at any age

Please review the signs and share them with your friends! Early intervention with autism is key!!

Another purpose of WAAD and month is to celebrate those in our lives with autism, so that's what I'm doing this year. First off, I know that we have been blessed with a mild case of autism, something I'm so grateful for. There are many days now when Grant really is like any other kid. He smiles, laughs, tells jokes, and is super-responsible and cooperative in our home. But Grant's life isn't without challenges.

One of Grant's biggest challenges is crowds. While he likes other kids, big crowds of children and people are too much for him to handle. He loves birthday parties, but the ones with tons of kids are hard for him to deal with. He recently attended a party and bolted out the door the minute I came to pick him up. Although he had fun, we've learned that he's less intimidated and actually interacts with other children when it's on a smaller scale.

Making friends. Grant still doesn't have many friends outside of school. It takes him a long time to warm up to other children and the two hours he's with kids his age on Sundays isn't enough time for him to get to know them. He's very well behaved in Primary, but isn't really friends with his Primary classmates.

Storytelling. Although his communication is pretty on par with kids his age, Grant has a hard time giving us a review of his day. Partly, he just doesn't want to tell me, and partly, recalling and retelling information is difficult for him.

And Grant's successes over the past year:

He is brilliant and loves learning. He's doing so well in school and has near-perfect behavior there. He is excelling in his classwork and especially spelling. He loves math as well, and makes up 'math tests' for fun at home. We're so proud of how hard he works!

He passed off his toileting IEP goal. I will spare you the details, but those who know us well, know the 5 year saga of potty training with Grant and I will *tentatively* say that he is near 100%!!!! Seriously, I am so excited about this. We pretty much had to let him do it on his own and have lots of patience. I can't believe I'm really typing this: he's almost there!!

Soccer. Grant did a lot better with soccer this year. He had fun playing with the other children and stayed interested in the games instead of quitting half-way through like last year.

Moving on from the alpha/number obsession. While Grant still likes numbers and letters, he's matured and advanced in his interests. We don't see so much of the repetitive obsession with the alphabet. To top it off, he's moved on to more age-appropriate interests like I Spy books and hidden picture puzzles. We're glad to see his progress!

Leadership. Grant has really taken on the 'big brother' role at home. He can be 'in charge' of his brothers at bedtime and report to us when they're breaking the rules. He is a great helper and loves interacting through games and reward systems.

Imagination and Initiative. Gone are the days when Grant would while away the hours doing the same thing all day long. He loves to come up with ideas and games for his brothers. He's instigating games and play all the time now!

Social Interaction. Grant is just more social than he's ever been. He plays, laughs, tells knock-knock jokes, says funny things, has an imagination, and wants to be around others. He's noticing others' emotions more often and is more comfortable around adults and kids alike.

Grant sings! He sang every word of every song at the Primary program last November. We also attended his 2nd grade choir concert last month where he sang every word to a ton of patriotic songs!

Our goals for Grant

Swimming lessons this summer!

Learning to ride a bike without training wheels!

Tee-ball!

And I can't wait for him to meet his baby sister. Grant was terrified of the other two boys as babies. He didn't understand them and screamed when we'd put them on his lap. Things are so different this time. He found a book at the school library that was called "Baby Sister". He asked his teacher if he could bring it home and read it to his mommy. Now doesn't that just melt your heart?!

Thank you again to all our friends, teachers, and family who have supported Grant in his journey with autism. He's grown so much and we can't wait to see what the next year holds for him. So remember to light it up blue in honor of every family and child with autism. Wear blue tomorrow, post the warning signs on your blog, or change your facebook status to recognize this amazing day!

And finally, the page I made for this year's World Autism Awareness Day. What I would want Grant to know on this day:

Journaling reads: This year for World Autism Awareness Day, Autism Speaks has created the ‘Light it up Blue’ campaign to raise awareness.. The Empire State Building will be lit up with blue lights, as well as many prominent buildings and monuments through-out the world. In our efforts to “light it up blue”, I want the world to know how much you’ve lit up our world. We’ve seen you grow so much and battle so many challenges. Your enthusiasm, joy for life, and determination have blessed our lives every day. We’re so proud to have a son with autism. A son who has the power to light up any room.

Remember to comment here with what you've done and I'll enter you in a drawing to have $100 donated in your name to Autism Speaks!

Links to WAAD posts from 2009 and 2008.