The signs I missed...

Well after that diagnosis I remembered looking online at autism and OCD but thought maybe but one of these doctors would have said something... WRONG. What I missed was the night terrors(horrible at 4 in the morning), the inability to switch from one thing to another, hopping and flapping, inability to talk until close to 3, the tantrums, insistent on me scratching his arms or legs, sensitivity to sounds, the lining up of his toys in lines all over his room, he can't locate his shoes in the middle of the floor, sensitivity to foods and textures, the tag in his clothes bothers him to where he can't function, he can't get glue on his fingers because then he spends HOURS picking it off, you can't get glue on your fingers be cause then he wants to pick yours off, can't sit still in his chair needs to rock or move, has a hard time staying on task, LOVES to draw intricate pictures with alot of details that a 7 year old would normally miss, can't walk on grass without shoes on, can't go to a Gotta Bead place with out him on his hands and knees picking up all the beads, is not close to his friends but everyone loves him, just quirky, will stare off into space, won't look at you unless you request it, inappropriate behavior, will do what the other boys tell him to do because it's funny without thought of the consequences, will respond to any threat with extreme force, has had to be pulled out of the class by the principal for yelling at the teacher, choked the principal by grabbing his tie(whoops), will defy authority unless you get his number from the git go, if you don't start with the upper hand you are screwed, loves to dance and spin, ALWAYS has to have something in one hand........ I could go on and on and on....

Now I can look back and see the things I missed, the signals that mark a child an autistic child. I knew that something was not right but all his medical issues masked the real problem. Could I have made a difference earlier?? Probably, but I won't beat myself up over it. I do the best I can EVERYDAY.

Today he bit someone in his class, I treat him just like his sister, there are consequences to every action. He understood that you cannot bite anyone and we did a role play with the WHOLE family on what to do if someone pushes him again. I think we got our point across.
Everyday is a challenge but it's never boring around here...