Arrrg...

I'm so tired of people telling me they don't think anything is wrong with Shawn! Ever since he was 18 months old I've been questioning the so called "professionals" and all I got was don't worry about it, he doesn't seem to be autistic. Today, Shawn's speech teacher called me to discuss his IEP (individual education plan) because it is a month overdue. I told her that Shawn has a neurology appointment on Friday because I wasn't sure if it would affect his IEP. She asked me what my concerns were and when I told her Autism she answered with a very surprised "What???" She had a hard time thinking that Shawn might be autistic because she works with Autistic children and he doesn't having any social issues. Hello!!! I wish I could scream this out to people that not all Autistic kids are the same! That's why it is called Autistic SPECTRUM Disorder...because there is such a huge range that these kids fall into. I swear, I think everyone working with children should have more training on looking for signs of Autism. If more people were aware of what Autism actually is, I think Shawn would have been diagnosed at 18 months old. He definitely showed more signs at 18 months than he does now. We'll see on Friday if all my gut instincts are correct.

I was browsing through the video glossary on Autism Speaks the other day and I definitely saw some videos that reminded me of Shawn when he was younger. The ones in particular that struck a cord in me were the under reactive to sensory input and the videos under social reciprocity. Of course these traits were prominent when Shawn was younger. He doesn't have any problem with social reciprocation anymore I don't think but he definitely still shows some signs of under reactive to sensory input although not as strongly.