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  In honor of my son, who is profoundly autistic, this month's challenge will be Autism. April is National Autism Awareness Month here in the United States. This challenge will run until April 30th. Please be sure to give proper credit to all sites that you obtain information and to also be sure to really read about this topic. Autism is currently the 3rd most prevalent developmental disorder in the world. There is no known cure at this time and research for this disorder is still sadly lacking even though millions of people are effected. I could go into a very scientific definition for you about autism and the different levels and behaviors a family and a person with autism faces but I have decided instead to tell you mine and Jt's story. At birth, Jt weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs 14 oz and was a big healthy beautiful boy. He progressed beautifully hitting all his developmental marks to the age of 15 months. At 15 months, we noticed he stopped playing, stopped saying the words he used to say and he seemed to not hear us any longer. Luckily though he was still a happy and affectionate little guy. His pediatrician assured me it was just because he was a boy and that all kids developed at different rates but I knew it was something else, so I kept right on nagging. At 18 months, Jt was put to sleep to be administered a hearing test to make sure he could hear. He was examined at Johns Hopkins University Hospital to evaluate his speech. He was at that time considered considerably delayed and referred to our Infants and Toddlers Program for early intervention. He began school at this time. Still no one would tell me what they thought was wrong. I was told it was too early to give a diagnosis, so I started to research. We had a therapist come to the home once a month to work with Jt and I. It was different and truthfully so scary. I kept praying it would be something that after working with him for a while he would overcome and that all this would be a nightmare I awoke from. Meanwhile Jt began to regress even further. At the age of 3 he entered the Autism Outreach Program and finally was officially diagnosed, but not until I had to fight to get it. Before he could be placed in this program, I had to fight the first of many battles for this beautiful little boy who holds my heart in his eyes. The Infant and Toddlers program wanted to have him labeled as Mentally Retarded since they had no way of testing him. Totally non verbal, kids who are profoundly autistic like Jt are extremely hard to test. I listened in rising anger as these degreed doctors and therapist explained why I should do all this. What they didn't know is I had already begun to do my homework and fortunately knew my rights. I let them finish their drawn out technical and unemotional reasoning for this label and then very calmly told them that under no circumstances would Jt be labeled with MR and that they as a school district would provide Jt with every service he needed without a diagnosis. They would also get a professional experienced in Autism to observe Jt. To my shock, they did it and it was here I learned my most valuable lesson. To always speak up for Jt because nine times out of ten, the school district would do what I as his parent wanted. Once Jt was placed in the Autism Outreach Program, he was sent to Kennedy Kreiger Institute for an official diagnosis. In November 1996, I was given the diagnosis of Autism. Even though in my brain I already knew this, my heart was now officially broke and the guilt and anger hit me like a ton of bricks. That was over 6 years ago now and Jt and I have been through many battles and triumphs. While he still remains non verbal, he is communicating much better now. He has a wonderful personality, that draws so many people to him. Help me spread awareness of this disability around the world so that hopefully one day a cure will be found and I can hear my precious little boy's voice say Mommy to me! One in every 250 children born this year will have some form of Autism.     Click on Ribbon to enter your page!  Some of the art seen here was obtained at this site. The only site on the net as far as I know offering autism clipart!
This page is dedicated to Jt and also in loving memory of Kendell, Jt's best friend who left us in November.  This set was created by Mystique exclusively for MQA and FSK. Please do not remove these graphics without permission
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