In 2002 I gave birth to my wonderful son. He was an absolute delight. Never have I felt the elation of when I first held him in my arms that precious day.All was fine and he was a happy child. He didn't cry much: not much at all. His first Christmas was very strange,he was completely bewildered by it all and I remember thinking to myself 'what is wrong with my son, is he ok??'. I put it down to tiredness. When I was weaning him, he used to gag....I put it down to him not being ready. Then as months went by, despite him being my first child, I knew something was amiss. He found it very hard to look at me, he wasn't interested in the world around him, he wasn't interested in familiar people, he wouldn't respond to his name, amongst others. His sleep patterns completely changed and are still diabolical now. Sleep deprivation is so NOT good!!He also started having extreme crying fits and I couldn't work out why. I felt redundant as a mother......it sounds ridiculous to say that I felt unneeded by a 13 month old baby! I cannot begin to explain the pain of having your child not being able to look in your eyes.I had hardly any responses from him and tried desperately to make him giggle and play with me. The basic words he did have, he lost completely at around 13 months old, after which he did not speak. I do remember him chasing me round on the floor in a game, when he was crawling and I cannot begin to tell you of the amazing feeling that that had given me that day.....something I never take for granted any more.
I told my Health Visitor that I thought something was wrong and it fell on deaf ears. I KNEW...it was my instinct as a mother and I really knew something was definitely wrong. I took the matter into my own hands and searched the web. I started reading up on autism and a bell rang immediately. I contacted my local branch of the Autistic Society, they came round to discuss things and they put me in touch with my local Children's Centre. And the story goes from there.........
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