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Autism, A Piece of Our Journey
Autism is a piece of our journey through life. This diagnosis is difficult to understand, for both those affected and those looking on.
Something was making Kim’s life difficult while she was growing up, yet no one knew what it was. Not us, her family, or the doctors we began trolling when she was in her teens. Her life consisted of unusual pieces, and no matter which way we turned them, the jigsaw didn’t fit together.
It took a trip to a clinic in an eastern state to finally diagnose her, which didn’t happen till her early twenties.
Our wish for these stories is to share our journey and perhaps spread understanding in a small way.
Romantic Relationships when you have ASD are challenging. Each person on the spectrum has a unique level of emotional ability. Here’s Kim’s Story. Many people with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) can manage romantic relationships and have successful marriages. However, ASD is a spectrum, and every individual has their unique level of emotional ability. While this…
Kim’s Story, Chapter 10: Our Autism Journey. Kim began her second year finally walking, and beginning to say a few words. Our quiet child. We were immensely relieved when Kim began to walk, beginning right around her first birthday. Kim was sure-footed and seldom fell, although her stride seemed a tad ungainly. It was…
The Endless Winter of Autism finally resulted in finding a diagnosis. Please celebrate with us! We couldn’t have made this journey without God, and you, our friends and supporters. This post has been simmering on the back burner of this blog for awhile. I still don’t really know where to take it, but some…
Food wouldn’t be the same without some awesome sauces. Life isn’t as enjoyable without the sauce of finding community. Finding Community is “Awesome Sauce” We have some awesome “sauce” to share today. It’s a sauce that’s like adding gravy to mashed potatoes. It absolutely adds the finishing touch. Mashed potatoes are yummy all by themselves,…
Kim’s Story, Chapter 9: Our Autism Journey. Kim’s mobility choice was the Bear Crawl. Our little bear cub could move amazingly fast in this four-on-the-floor method. “Do you think she crawls like that because she has a dress on?” This question was asked of me one Sunday afternoon, as my friend watched Kim skimming…
Kim’s Story, Chapter 8: Our Autism Journey. When a healthy baby becomes a sickly toddler, and a nebulizer becomes our most necessary accessory. I woke up in the middle of the night, my heart pounding. What was it? What had awakened me? Yes, there it was. A dry, rasping cough. Oh, no, not again….
Kim’s Story, Chapter 7: Getting Around. Many children crawl on hands and knees, but there are other ways of getting around. And so our child grew. I hold out a finger of both my hands, and she grabs them. “Up, up, up. That’s the way!” And she’s standing on my lap, legs straight and…
Kim’s Story, Chapter 6: The Skinny Begins Oil in her bottle, 8 meal days and other vain attempts to make her fat. I felt as if I was the worst mom of young children ever. Our oldest son never was heavy enough to please the doctors, and always hit too low on the charts…
Kim’s Story, Chapter 5: A Road Trip, A Wedding and a Funeral. Kim’s first months were eventful. By 2 months of age she’d clocked 5000 miles! The story of our dream life continues. Our boys were healthy and happy, and models of good behavior. We didn’t deserve our sweet family. God blessed us with…
Bringing our baby girl home began some of the best months of my life. Kim’s Story, Chapter Four. Now we were the perfect nuclear family of the ’90s. Our family felt complete: 2 sons and now, a daughter. Not only was Kim our first daughter, she was the first daughter in my husband’s whole…
What did or didn’t the doctor know about the effects of placental calcification and why didn’t she share with us? Kim’s Story, Chapter Three. As we shared in the previous chapter of Kim’s birth story, Kim’s birth was successfully uneventful, and other than induction and low birth weight, we never received any inkling that…
We’ve shared about Autism Spectrum Disorder before, but we’ve never told Kim’s birth story, the dawn of our journey onto the spectrum. The first “chapter” of this story is in this post, if you wish to read it from the beginning, in chronological order. Kim’s Birth Story, Chapter 2 “Dr. Deason wants us at the…