Autism
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Auditory Processing Disorder
Hyperactivity
Tourette’s Syndrome
Oppositional Defiant Syndrome
My son has never received any of these diagnoses. But that never stopped me from believing that one day, inevitably, he would.
At two and a half years old, Max spoke fewer than ten words: mama, dada, wow, oh no, what's that, hi. His main form of communiation was shrieking, hitting and, when those proved unsuccessful, banging his head against the wall.
He was rigid in his play and prone to severe tantrums; an otherwise minor infraction such as putting on the wrong video often resulted in a twenty minute outburst so intense it was as if Max was lost, trapped in his own hysteria with no way out and no way for me to get in. There was nothing I could do but let the fit run its course and wait for him to return to me.
In 2001 Max was given an official diagnosis: apraxia. Apraxia is a neurological speech disorder that causes motor planning difficulties. His brain knows what he wants to say. It just has trouble getting the message to his mouth. Max required intensive speech therapy. While other children his age were stringing together two and three word phases, Max was struggling to say simple vowel sounds.
Over time, Max's speech blossomed. Soon it was impossible to keep track of his new words because he was able, finally, to imitate anything that was asked of him.
In addition to speech therapy, Max also attended occupational therapy to treat the sensory integration disorder he was also diagnosed with. Max did not do well with loud noises (he insisted on leaving a public restroom stall before the toilet was flushed), bare feet or leaving the house without a toy, an action figure, or even a stick, firmly implanted in his hand.
Max made wonderful progress over the next two years and was soon joined in speech therapy by his younger sister, Ari, who was also diagnosed with apraxia.
At five and a half, Max was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. But not before being incorrectly diagnosed with bipolar disorder, auditory processing disorder and pervasive developmental disorder; experts also suggested he might have Asperger's syndrome or Tourette's. (I'll have more to say about that process at another time; this introduction is getting long as it is.)
I've been entrenched in the world of special needs children for four years now. It consumes me. Friends who have asked me what I've been reading in the past few years are treated to a litany of prescriptive parenting titles such as
Quirky Kids,
The Explosive Child, and
Parenting Children With ADHD: 10 Lessons That Medicine Cannot Teach
. Don't ask me if I've picked up the latest hot novel to hit the best seller list. I haven't.
I've started this blog as a way to share my thoughts on issues as they relate to special needs children and their families. And of course, as a way these issues affect my special needs children and our family.
