William's Health as a NewBorn

William was a very happy baby until he reached 2 months. He was hospitalized for abdomen pain, constipation, frequent reflux, low weight and constant crying. Doctors had a scan done for his abdomen/intestines and it came clear. Blood, urine and stool tests came back normal as well. We were sent home.

Five months, dozens of visits to our family doctor and seven(7) different milk brands later, a new doctor found out our little William was lactose intolerant. WOOHOO, we had a diagnostic and we could do something about it. He was put on Prosobee (soy formula) and he no longer had a hard time with his digestion. (You'll understand later why I talk about this... it leads us to a first symptom of autism which we did not know anything about)

William's Birth

I was 8 days past my due date, resulting in an attempt to force the birth with a medication called "syntosinon" (it's in French, I don't know the English equivalent, sorry. I believe it might be something similar to Petocin). Twenty minutes after the start of the IV, William's heart dropped from 155 beats per minute to an astonishing 64bpm in a matter of about 3 seconds. We had to deliver through c-section right away. I was brought to the O.R. and put to sleep immediately. Once I was asleep, it took my ob/gyn 2 minutes to sterilize, cut open and take my poor William out. (I was put to sleep at 11:29am and William was born at 11:31am!) He was white in color and was given oxygen for 12 hours "just in case" they said. (I still wonder if it was "just in case"). He was born with a pneumonia and was in NICU for 7 days on antibiotics and was wired for his oxygen level (under the foot), lungs function and heart rate. My husband and could only hold him the following day.

Taking you a few years back

Aug 31st, 2008

I intend on taking you back a few years to explain how it all began. If you are struggling with similar problems with your kid, maybe this can help understand what's wrong. I am NOT A DOCTOR, I am only a mom with an autistic child and would LOVE to help other parents out. I'm not saying that if your child has the same symptoms William had when he was a baby, that your child IS indeed autistic, I am just saying that it might help you pinpoint some things that you might not think are not typical for a child that age. I had to seek help myself and if I had know then what I know now, I would've gotten help for William much earlier...

My Son's Condition

My son William was diagnosed with Autism in May 2008. Although my husband and I were not surprised by the diagnostic, we were still sad to learn the results. We knew it meant we had a lot of hard work in front of us.

William started the ABA Therapy (at home) in July and has his ups and downs with the therapy but overall he's doing good. Right now they are working on language as his speech is very poor and only his dad and me understand him (sometimes it's hard to even guess what he wants/needs but we do our best)

William was supposed to start kindergarten in September of this year but we had to decide between that and the ABA Therapy. The therapy will last a full year, 5 days a week, 4 hours a day. It's very intense and hard on the family but we console ouselves when we see that William is doing fairly well and is already learning stuff.

Our first meeting with the ABA supervisor was great, he is a sweetheart and William really likes him. I can't wait for our second meeting to get some feedback on the program William is on right now (basics of language). I bet it will be good news. :)

The Subject of my Blog

I have been searching for a good subject and I keep coming up with the same thought over and over again... Autism

My 4-1/2 year old son is autistic and I think the experience I have in this field can help other moms & dads out there struggling with the same problem.

If sharing my story & experience can help lessen your pain....

Thanks for coming again :)