The happiest time of my life was when the twins were born.  I had been waiting for them all of my life.  They are amazing children, smart, independent and fascinating.  When Michael was 3 months old, I knew something was a little different about him.  At 3 months he would stare at his hand and fingers for hours.  At 6 months old he was leaning out of his crib to play the ABC Leap Frog electronic device over and over again.  At 15 months he was "singing" the ABC song in order.  His speech wasn't the best, but there was no mistaking the song.  By 2 years old he was figuring out words and reading.  By the age of 2.5 I brought him down to the school I was working at (Villa Cresta in Baltimore County) to have my good friend and long time speech therapist Kim Kiernan take a look at him.  She remarked that he was bright and some of the quirkiness I was seeing might be developmental, but to keep an eye on him.

I had my suspicions from about 8 months old that he might be on the spectrum.  Chris's oldest son, Dale was diagnosed with PDD, and then later the psychologist said Aspergers.  I knew that autism has a tendency to run in families.  I was wondering if Michael did indeed have Autism.  I wasn't sure if it was High Functioning Austis or Aspergers.   I ended up taking another class that differentiated between the two.  Yes, Michael was High Functioning Autistic.  By this time we had moved to Hinsdale, NH.  I scheduled a speech/language eval on him though the local school, and got him services.

By the time he was 4 years old I had made an appointment for him up at Dartmouth/Hitchcock in Lebanon, NH at the CHADD center.  Dr. Steven Mott and Ellyn Cavanaugh worked with Michael for a long time.  Yes, indeed Michael was on the spectrum.

I am writing this blog about the twins, about my child "being on the spectrum", but mostly I am writing this for me.  I want to talk about my joys and fears about Michael.  I hope that other parents who have a child on the spectrum will read it and find it useful.  I know that I need to write and get "my words" out for my own sanity.