Welcome to David's Home Page
David is 4 years old, diagnosed with Autism at the age of 2. David has 3 older brothers Christopher (10), Andrew (9) and Steven (6). David developed normally just as his brothers did but but then things he had learned started to disappear like drinking from a cup, less and less eye contact, wanting to play alone and lack of words.( David is still non verbal) We took him to the family doctor then to a pediatrician. He suspected Autism and set up an appointment for us to visit with a Specialist. He was then diagnosed with Autism. All kinds of questions would run through our heads. David also has Asthma and was hospitalized for 2 weeks due to a severe attack . This occurred around the same time he started to loose things that he had learned as a baby. Could the lack of oxygen have caused some complications or the medication he was given, did I do something wrong while I was pregnant, did I not spend enough time with him as an infant...... all these things went through our minds. Then the calls from social workers, doctors and specialists started to come in, I was overwhelmed with everything. People coming to the house, hearing tests, blood tests, an EEG, CT scans and meetings to arrange an appropriate setting for his learning. It was so much to handle but David's Family Support Worker was great and helped to point us in the right direction. I would have been lost without her.
David's behavior was getting worse,
head banging, falling to the floor, flapping his hands in front of his
eyes he would sometimes stare with glossy eyes then start to cry as though
he were frightened the suddenly stop then start to laugh so hard he couldn't
walk. He would do this several times a day. One time I heard him moan,
it was a strange moan so I just watched for a minute to see what was wrong.
His eyes were all glossy, he was staring into nothing and then his body
started to shake. It only lasted for a bout 2 minutes but seemed like forever,
It terrified me. But David was fine. It has been a year and a half with
no more episodes like that. Some of David's tendencies are repeating his
actions like flipping through the phone book (he would do this for hours
if I let him) throwing toys in the air, flapping his hands, flicking his
fingers in front of his eyes and over objects as he walked past them. David
has a lot of little "neat" things he does that some would consider "strange"
but this was David and I was learning that all these little things he did
is what made David who he is......my special boy. David is now attending
a children's Daycare centre 3 days a week and has a 1-1 worker with him
at all times. The worker does a lot of hand over hand activities with him
teaching him how to play with toys appropriately, doing crafts and teaching
communication and social skills. His worker also makes home visits, teaching
David to carry on the skills he has learned at the centre to the home.
We are often asked if we would do it all over again knowing what we know
now..Yes!! We all Love David very much! The Older boys love to play and
help teach David. We always include David in our family activities and
we have a great time with all the boys. Sometimes we do find ourselves
asking God....why do we have an Autistic son? We don't know why, Maybe
in the future we will know. David has added much joy to our lives and has
brought our family closer together and every day we become a little stronger.
hhmmm I think I just answered my own question. We truly are Blessed!!
We have been trying to teach David
some sign language but it is very hard to do when his eye contact is still
not very good, although he does recognize some signs like - eat, more,
drink, wait and bath. David has been communicating by pulling my hand and
placing it on what he wants or needs, he has not yet learned how to point.
PECS (picture exchange communication
symbols) have been working well for David allowing him to visualize what
his
schedule for the day is. (normally the schedule is the same) PECS have
helped to improve David's behavior a great deal. David loves to look at
books and pictures making picture symbols easy to use.
