Muddling Our Way Through Developmental Disorders or What’s Going On With My Child?
This beautiful little girl is the youngest of my five children. She is the one who makes me break out into a sweat any time we venture into a grocery store, doctors office, library (or any other new location). She is the angel who needs her blankets on in a specific order, her favorite stuffed toys (pandy and puppy) each on their side and six rounds of “huggy and kissy” before she will settle into bed. She is possibly one of the rising numbers of children on the Autism Spectrum.
Around age two, we begin to suspect that we weren’t just dealing with a more difficult or strong willed child. At that time, I had no idea what we were dealing with and I kept telling myself “this is just a phase, it’ll pass”. But the phase never passed. Behaviors became more pronounced, social interactions and transition became exceptionally difficult.
Our “Little Critter” as she is dubbed in the online community is exceptionally bright, active and speaks beautifully so Autism Disorders were not considered in our early well child checks. She walked at 7 1/2 months unassisted and has never stopped since, she wasn’t a cuddly baby from birth… rolling and scooting around on her belly by 2 1/2 months. This was a baby who wanted to go. I figured she was eager to play with her big sisters and therefore had no desire to be a baby. She hit all the milestones on time or early and boy was she messy! Always touching, feeling, running, jumping, twirling. Now we know that she has sensory processing disorders which cause her to seek stimulation in some situations and over-react to stimuli (lights/noise) in others. We began to learn about Aspergers Disorder and Sensory Perception Disorder and saw our child.
