E-man rises

In light of everything going on with Little Buddy I wanted to create a separate post detailing how E-man is doing. 

E-man as I had mentioned in a previous post has started using verbal imitation. A few examples of the words he's attempting to imitate are cheese, cracker, cookie, and popcorn. As you can see he is highly motivated by food! At this point I think he has a glimmer of understanding that words can help him get what he wants. It was a similar process when we were trying to teach him to point for what he wanted instead of hand leading. 
It started out with modeling the pointing, using hand over hand to create the point with his hand, prompting him to use it and slowly fading away the prompt. This process took about 6 months of repetition and using highly desired objects (food most of the time) until he finally got it on his own. 
Occasionally he'll still need a prompt but that's usually if he's distracted by something else going on. 
Another huge accomplishment is his ability to imitate. Typically developing kids naturally imitate and use that as a method of learning. 
E-man had to be taught to imitate and it took just over a year to meet that goal.  This is huge because it leads to so many more learning opportunities and we see him applying this new skill all the time. 
His attendance to his surroundings and people around him has also greatly improved. He looks up at me all the time to "check in" and the increased eye contact is so special because I can read how he feels so much better! 
Teaching him to point,  learn imitation and increase his awareness really helped me understand that E-man can make these gains but it will take quite some time and effort to get him to his goals. You know what? I'm perfectly fine with that. As long as we get there and he's able to accomplish these milestones it doesn't matter how long it takes. Obviously we can't do this on our own and the school that he attends deserve much of the praise. 
An eye-opening lesson for me is that all of this gets my husband and I closer to understanding and knowing his personality. It's in there but it needs some coaxing to come out. It literally fills me with pride when he accomplishes new skills and is willing to try more to get to his goals.

Before I really understood what autism was I assumed that the children were not affectionate and did not connect in a meaningfully way with people. I now know that is quite to the contrary!
He loves his hugs and kisses, laughs when Daddy is being silly, and can be quite mischievous. He'll laugh when he takes something from the kitchen that isn't a toy, put on his devil grin when he bothers his little brother. It's so exciting to see him blossom. 

I really feel like seeing how far E-man has come gives me so much hope with Little Buddy's future. E-man can blaze the trail for his younger brother. He'll teach this little family that with hard work and determination the sky is the limit.

Getting to a better place

So much has been happening for our little family unit recently.
On Friday Little Buddy had his 18 month check up with the Infant Sibling Study. They administered something called the ADOS, which is a diagnostic tool for autism. What they found is that currently Little Buddy "meets criteria" for autism.
I questioned the use of the phrase "meets criteria" instead of just saying "diagnosis". The explanation is that there are those that question whether a child can truly be diagnosed before the age of 2 years, so as of right now they say "meets criteria". This is only frustrating because services may be delayed if there is no formal diagnosis. Currently he is receiving 3 hours a week which I'm glad to say he is tolerating well. For now it's up in the air what exactly will happen but I'm confident we'll be able to increase his hours at some point.
All logistics aside, I wasn't surprised with the results of the ADOS. Little Buddy has slowly but surely been blossoming with autistic symptoms. Does this mean that I am any less devastated? No. I am that plus so many other emotions. It's hard to put into words that I am full of hope and sadness, gratitude and pain, relief and anxiety. I have tough moments when I want to cry at the injustice of it but I look at the faces of my little boys and they are so beautiful. They are healthy, happy and so very much loved. I can find many things to be thankful for that the brightness can dull the anguish. It will be a tough road for my husband and I but we can and will walk through the fire.