Life's Blessings

I had my son when I was over 40 years old and my hubby was over 50 years old.  I guess you could say our little guy was kind of a "surprise."  When he was little he cried more than the average baby.  I was kind of out of practice because my daughter was 8 when he was born so it had been a while since diapers and all-nighters.  Around the time of his birth things were very chaotic, we were traveling back and forth to Cleveland because my hubby's dad was ill.  After his dad passed we then cleaned out their house which was packed with stuff.  We made lots of trips back and forth to Cleveland, being my husband is an only child and at the time his mom was still in Cleveland in an assisted living facility.  I didn't notice that my son wasn't really talking or communicating.  As we soon came to find out he had Autism.  Being such a proactive person once I found that out I have done tons of research.  So many people along the way on this journey with him have been wonderful.  He had two amazing teachers at school.  To teach children with special needs you have to be a "special" kind of teacher.  I remember when he was just starting school I was feeling kind of sorry for myself about him having Autism.  His teacher said, "focus on what he can do, not what he can't."  That has been such good advice.  Autism is different for every child, which makes it hard to know what intervention is the best.  We got him diagnosed about 2 1/2 and about 6 months or so later, we found out he also has ADHD.  Even with all of my son's challenges I consider him a precious gift.  He has brought such joy to our family and just makes our life even more richer by being part of it.