I have always had the strongest intuition. Any time in my life when I have chosen to ignore it, it has come back to bite me in the ass. 2 months ago we took my son Isma'il in to his pediatrician for his 2 year well exam. I knew I didn't want him to have any immunizations but we had to address the constant nightwaking and screaming that was leaving my husband and I drained for many months. After his normal physicial exam his Dr. asked us if we had any concerns and we brought up the many sleepless nights we've been experiencing. We knew this couldn't be normal. Isma'il would wake up at 2am and stay awake till 6am screaming bloody murder, at the top of his lungs agitated and restless. He gave his generic suggestions of cutting his naps and wrote down the name of a book on sleep that might help. He went on to ask us if we had any other concerns.
"Well, Isma'il has been having some sensory issues lately."
"Really, what kind?" asked Dr. T
"I went to put a yellow shirt on him and he freaked out. I didn't think much of it but days later I tried again and he repeated this behavior. So I thought I would try another shirt that happened to also be yellow except with his favorite character Curious George but he did the same thing."
We sat there as his Dr. began to tell us he wanted us to have Isma'il evaluated for autism. He continued to say that based on his speech delay along with these new sensory issues that can many times can be early signs of autism and just wants to rule it out.
Let me say that despite the fact I have ALWAYS been concerned about my son since the day he came into this world. His temperment and sometimes odd behavior made me uneasy at times but I was a new mother and naturally ALWAYS had someone there to tell me "Oh he's just fine. You're just overreacting and being paranoid." and everyone always had a story of someone they knew who "didn't speak until he was 5". But in my heart I felt it..I was constantly worried something just wasn't right.
So why did I sit in that office and cry uncontrollably? Why did I feel like I couldn't breathe? I was even a mom who read Jenny McCarthy's book "Louder Than Words" and always questioned the safety of vaccines. I was actually very familiar with signs of autism yet I really wasn't too versed on the high functioning end of the spectrum.
That night I reseached and researched all things autism. When I read about PDD-NOS my heart sank. I felt I could relate on so many levels.
I didn't want to waste any time. Isma'il was already receiving services for his speech delay from age of 18 months old. Although he had progressed, he still wasn't really conversational..although he COULD say "Mama" and "Dada" he just rarely ever did. So the next morning I called numbers for to make an appointment for his evaluation. They told me 6-9 months wait. I felt so desperate. Over the course of the next few weeks I cried at the drop of a hat over anything and everything. I waited to even confide in my family. I was so overwhelmed with dealing with all this myself I didn't have it in me to repeat the words to anyone else. I couldn't bare to think of anyone looking at my son like he's "Rainman" etc. My mind was going a mile a minute.
Prayerfully U of Washington had 2 different divisions that I could chose from. I called Neurodevelopmental and told them my son was about to turn 2 1/2 in hopes that woud factor into how soon we could get in. Bingo! We would have a pre screening evaluation in a month and a half. Thank you God.
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