Autism, Is That You?
Do you just love a straight line or is there something more going on?
When people find out my son is autistic, one of the first questions I get asked is, “How did you know?”
The short answer is, I didn’t know.
He was a happy and healthy boy who consistently met all but one of his developmental milestones; language. He babbled a lot but after his first word, didn’t acquire any additional language for months. In hindsight, the signs were clear as day but as neither myself nor my husband knew nothing about autism, we didn’t recognise the signs until we engaged the services of a Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) to help with his language development. It was her subtle hints that led me to research, and seeing him so perfectly described in article after article, was one of the greatest shocks of my life.
Not Responding to His Name
He went through a phase where he wasn’t responding to his name. So much so, we started to wonder if he could hear us. It was baffling because he was obsessed with nursery rhymes and would sing along while they played on the TV, so we knew he could hear. We were convinced he was deliberately ignoring us and would often joke about how stubborn he was!
Plugging His Ears
He also went through a phase where he would plug his ears with his fingers. When we noticed he was doing it consistently both at home and at nursery, we took him to see the GP, worried that he might have an ear infection. It carried on for months and though sometimes, it was a reaction to loud noises, there were times where he would be sat with his ears plugged, for significant lengths of time. It was a mystery to us but as we had been assured that his ears were fine, we stopped worrying about it.
Lining Up His Toys
I didn’t realise how many stuffed toys we had accumulated until my son began to line them up on the windowsill that spans the length of our living room. From stuffed toys, to cars and duplo blocks, there were lines of toys arranged throughout the house. He was especially particular about the line of stuffed toys on the windowsill and would insist that they all held hands. He would go into hysterics if the hands were separated (which they often did given they weren’t designed with that purpose in mind) and any attempt to tidy them away would result in what we now know to be meltdowns. At the time, we thought they were just tantrums and couldn’t understand what we saw as a disproportional reaction.
Near Constant Movement
My son hasn’t stopped moving since he was born. Even when asleep, he is agile. As a toddler, there wasn’t an elevated surface in our home that he didn’t attempt to climb. Every shelf in our fridge freezer has been broken at least once and just before he turned one, he managed to climb the tv stand and pull down the tv. He was (still is) like a tennis ball, volleying from one end of the house to the other and it was exhausting trying to keep him safe.
“He doesn’t look autistic.”
As people who had no experience with autistic children, none of his behaviours raised alarm bells. We saw them as quirks; personality traits. I ignorantly thought that autism had a “look,” and there was nothing atypical about how he presented physically. Add to that, the reassurances from friends, family and the GP, that boys tend to acquire language later than girls, autism was the furthest thing from my mind.
Our saving grace was our decision to get him help with his language delay and we will forever be grateful to his therapist for nudging us to see a Paediatrician.