How Our Journey Began (pt 1)

I guess you could say our journey started Dec 1st 2005, the day our son was born.
Being first time parents we were nervous but quickly settled into the roll of being parents, and before we knew it we felt like old pros. Things just sort of came naturally to us which made being the parents of a new baby a little more easier for us.
Sammy was a very quiet baby. The first 3 months of his life we only heard him cry once. He really had no reason to cry, we woke him to feed him every 2hrs, gave him gas drops after every feeding and changed him as soon as we felt the least bit of wetness in his diaper. Other than being quiet, nothing was out of the ordinary with him.

As he got older he hit all the milestones set forth by the doctor. His speech was lacking but some kids just talk later than others. People would say he would talk when he was ready and that was a phrase uttered to me more times than I can count.
Looking back now I could see signs of the Autism as early as his first birthday. We had gotten him a shape sorter with various shapes and colors. I remember watching him line up the shapes by color on his bookshelf. The first shelf was lined with the red shapes, the second shelf lined with the blue and so on. I remember thinking it was odd to do that at such a young age, but at the same time I was fascinated by it.

I started noticing little quirks about him shortly after his first birthday. Certain noises would freak him out, especially my blow dryer.
One day Joe was whistling and it upset Sammy terribly. I thought it was a little odd at the time but just figured maybe the pitch of certain noises bothered him.
I also started noticing that he would not acknowledge when we would sometimes talk to him. We would try to engage him in play but it was as if we weren't there and he played around us. My mom was convinced he had hearing problems and after being tested we were told his hearing was perfectly normal. That's when a little voice kept telling me something was going on with him. When I would mention my concerns to the doctor or other people they would tell me that he was barely over a year old and to give him time. So that's what we did.


By 15 months I was getting even more concerned because he only said maybe 5 words but he wouldn't imitate sounds or things we did. Sure he would clap, but if we started clapping he wouldn't imitate it. Instead of rolling cars or trucks he would turn them over and spin the wheels or he would line them up. Sometimes he would have up to 100 cars lined up in the living room. If you moved one of his cars he became inconsolable and full of anxiety until that car was put back in it's proper place.
He was also a very solitary little boy. Even though we spent many afternoons at the park he still had no interest in the other kids. I thought maybe because he was an only child he just didn't understand the concept of playing with others.

It wasn't until we went to Target one day that we really became aware that there were problems. From day one we were always able to take him places without incident. On this particular day something set him off. He started shrieking and yelling and just freaking out. We ended out trip quickly and while Joe was at the check out stand I took Sammy in the restroom and scolded him for being so unruly.

By then my motherly instinct was really kicking in and it was telling me that something wasn't right. The more I tried to put it out of my head the stronger that instinct became. I talked to a friend of mine who's son was speech delayed and she told me about Early Intervention and how it was helping her son who was Sammy's age.
By 18 months we had been interviewed by therapists and found out that Sammy DID qualify for EI services and 2 months after his 2nd birthday we began in home therapy 2 times a week for 30 minutes to an hour.

As kind as the speech therapist was, Sammy didn't connect with her and would have horrible meltdowns when she tried to make him comply with her demands. He had no interest in anything she tried to do with him and he let it be known.
She was a sweet lady but lacked the discipline it takes to be firm with young children. At that time she suggest an Occupational Therapist.
2 weeks later we met and incredible woman who helped us in more ways than you could imagine. Angela Collier is very popular in the Autism community here in our town. She has worked with children on the spectrum her entire life and we were fortunate that she was going to be Sammy's OT. He was the last patient she saw before retiring.
Upon our first meeting I told her my instincts were telling me that there was more going on with him then just a speech delay. He tested her and let her know that he was not about cooperate with her. He would fall to the floor in full on tantrum mode kicking and screaming. She got down and wrapped her arms around him in a tight grip that concerned me. I was taken aback by her forcefulness with MY child. My mother bear instinct was about to kick this lady out of my house for man handling my son. She had him immobilized in this bear hug and as quickly as the tantrum began it ended. I'm sure she could tell by the look on my face that I was in shock by what had just happened.
It was a technique known as compression therapy and it worked. It was a technique that we would find ourselves using a lot over the next couple of years.

It wasn't until our 3rd meeting that Angela sat me down and told me that she felt he had High Functioning Autism.
I had heard of Autism as it was becoming a more common thing among kids but up until that moment I never had a reason to research it. When I would hear the word AUTISM I associated it with people such as Dustin Hoffman's character in Rain Man.