More About Erik

I have been anxious lately. To the point of feeling nauseous. When I sit down to analyse why, I realise that it is - yet again - all to do with Erik's upcoming assessment. It has been almost a year since we were alerted to the possibility that Erik was autistic. As you can imagine, it has been a roller coaster ride. Cliche', I know, but never more true in my life.

I thought after much time, that I had finally got my head around the whole idea that Erik was not 'ok'....that there were problems here. But when I really face it, I can still hardly believe that this is happening. I can just hardly believe it. I never expected to be a mum of a special needs child. Ever. In my whole life. What makes this even weirder for me is that the other two sisters I have who also have children, have at least one child with special needs too. Between the three of us, none of the 'special needs' are related in any way whatsoever. Heavy, yeah? More about that in another post I think.

So when I took Erik in to see the nurse for his routine 18 month check up...2.5 months too late....she noticed a few things:

Erik did not respond to his name.
Erik did not point at things.
Erik did not make very good eye contact...in fact, it was very poor.
Erik had no words...none whatsoever.
Erik also had no 'noises' for words.
Erik did not play creatively.
He did not use a crayon.
He did not climb on things.
His problem solving skills were poor.

There is more, but I can't remember now.

After almost one year, there has been very little improvement or development on these things. He still has no words. He does have some noises for some words. About 3. That's it. He still does not point, use a crayon, or play creatively. He sometimes responds to his name and his eye contact is improving. So little change after 1 year.

Assessment is next Wednesday. Will let you know.

Better feed the baby now.


xx