The diagnosis: This mom's point of view

Here is my attempt to catch you all up to where we are today with Mowgli's autism diagnosis. I feel like it's ncessary to give you a glimpse into Mowgli's past, so that you may be able to understand the process of how and when we got to the point of his diagnosis.

My pregnancy and delivery of Mowgli was unremarkable. He was born mostly healthy. He had a fever when he was first born, and thus spent a couple hours being monitored in the NICU. The fever subsided quickly and he was declared in perfect health. We were able to take him home 2 days after he was born. 4 days after he was born he had to be treated with a UV light blanket (Bili blanket), because he had jaundice. He only needed the treatment for 24 hrs. and then my milk came in, and the bilirubin level declined.

The next 24 months, we joyously marked all his milestones on a calendar and in his baby book. I knew all the early signs of autism (my 4 yr old (at the time) nephew had been diagnosed with it 2yrs earlier), and kept a watch for them. Was he smiling? Yep. Was he interacting with me? Check. Was he saying words? You bet.

His 2yr wellness check passed, and all was well. 6 months later things began to change. Although, Mowgli could name all the objects in his "First 100 Words" book, he still wasn't using sentences. He wasn't doing the seemingly constant "what's that?", that I had heard other children his age do. His energy level had always been high, but now he seemed to have no regard for his personal safety. I feared to take him outside alone, because he would bolt towards the road. I was pregnant at the time, and couldn't chase after him like before. Of course, we made excuses for his delays. "We are always anticipating his needs, that's why he doesn't speak much", "He's high energy like his mom", "We are always protecting him, that's why he doesn't fear for his safety". Out of ingnorance of the subtlties of child development, and pure denial, we made excuses. Then, our son started screaming for seemingly no reason. His once always happy demenour became increasingly agitated and brooding. I remember lying in bed crying, saying to my husband "What's happened to my little boy? Is this because I'm having another baby? I think he hates me now.". My husband reassured me that he didn't hate me (that was the hormones talking), and that he was just growing up.

Fast forward a few months later. I gave birth to my daughter, and 2 weeks later went to Mowgli's 3yr wellness check. As he ran in a circle around the examining room (and hit his head on the counter), the NP asked about his development. I remember saying "his vocab is excellent, but I'm concerned he's not conversing with us ", after a pause I quickly said "but I think I'm noticing him attempting it more often." We left the office with an appointment to come in 6 months later for a vision and hearing screening. We entered the elevator, nervously laughing at the absurd suggestion that he could be potty trained soon, and my vow that if his language didn't improve by the screening, I was going to ask for a speech evaluation. The following 6 months I compared him to every child I saw, I made excuses. A month before his screening, I sat staring at him, as he spinned and moaned. I had only ever heard that kind of moaning in mentally challenged people, I could no longer deny that something was going on.

The screening time came, he couldn't perform the tests. I mentioned to the nurse (doctor wasn't in) my concerns. She assured me that boys are slower to develop language, and scheduled another screening in a month. That screening was also unsucessful, and that's when I asked for a speech evaluation. The nurse seemed suprised, but got the script from the doctor. On our way out, the doctor stopped us and began to ask Mowgli repeatedly "what's your name?", my son didn't even look at him.

The diagnosis part 2 coming soon!