“Our Story Part 1”

Luke was the typical baby and toddler. We never suspected anything being wrong with him. He met all of his milestones on time and even sometimes ahead of time. He was saying “dada,” at around 7-9 months, “mama,” around 9-10 months, and “uh oh,” at 11-12 months old. He would even drop things and say “uh oh.” It was the sweetest thing. He waved bye bye at 10-12 months old. He looked at us when we called his name, and was so interactive with us and played with his brother so much!!! He had a few other words such as “Nana,” “bro bro” and “woof” when he saw a dog. He never had any delays in rolling over, sitting up, or walking. The time things started to change was around 15 months of age. At around 15 months old he was not saying “uh oh,” or “mama” or other words as much and was only saying “dada.” We brushed it off to be that it was because he had started walking really well and was too busy exploring his new freedom of walking everywhere. This was around fall of the year and by Christmas we knew something was not quite right. He was saying NO words at all and on Christmas morning he did not pay any attention to his presents or us. He was just “too busy” running around the room. He had no eye contact much, and seemed to be in his “own world.” His dad and I knew that we needed to make a doctor appointment soon hoping it was just him being “all boy.” We made the appointment in January and the doctor suggested we see a developmental pediatrician. It seemed like a forever waiting game because the wait list are so long. Keep in mind that the word “autism” had not been spoken of by the doctor, or us. The doctor just spoke of a developmental delay. He said he would need to have his hearing checked, and see a neurologist. The wait list are so ridiculous. We had this appointment in January and did not see the neurologist until that August. I could see that something needed to be done soon, because Luke seemed to be drifting farter away. A neighbor suggested we contact our local CDSA (Children’s Developmental Services Agency). We did and soon got Luke some much needed therapy at home to help with his developmental delay. He had speech, and play therapy, which was awesome but not long enough. He needed much more!!! This was when our journey started not knowing how hard and long the road would be…..