Baby Gregory

This is a picture of Gregory when he was 4 months old with Nick. It is sometimes hard to look at baby pictures of him. It brings back memories of a very disengaged baby. Oh how we struggled with him. Not knowing what was going on in that little brain. Wondering if he would ever talk to us, want to look at us, show us things, feel comfort from our touch, and the list goes on. He does all of those things now. I feel blessed beyond belief. The things he understands, the way he connects now with Nick, his sisters, and I is all so amazing to me. Yesterday I was at work and his Theo Pete took him out. They went to the park, the grocery store, and the fire station. Gregory loves fire trucks. He got to sit in one and talk to the firemen. On the way home they stopped at the office. I took him back into my treatment room and showed him all of the cool stuff. He went for a ride in the chair. He said why can't I work with you? I said well you'll have to go to dental school. He said no I am going to be a firefighter! He has a lot of ideas of what he will be when he grows up. I hope he finds the one that he will love doing.

I don't know if there are any other families out there with a situation like ours. I know when the doctor first told us at 4 months that it could be autism I found the book The Boy Who Loved Windows. I read this book probably 10 times. It was my bible. It described the journey of a family in a very similar situation as ours. In the end the boy was never given a diagnosis of autism. After I read this I told myself that this would be my story in a few years, not really knowing if it could be. I did whatever it took to engage my son. After months of struggling with floortime I found RDI. Floortime was ok but I never really knew what I was suppose to do. There was no structure. RDI changed my life. It changed my parenting for all of my kids. Of course we will never know what the outcome would have been if we did not seek early intervention for Gregory but my gut tells me it would not have taken us to the place we are today. Gregory did not reference us. Facial gazing in a way was painful for him. If we did not slow down for him and make nonverbal communication priority then I am sure he would be struggling. Struggling to understand us. Struggling to understand our intentions. Today he understands a lot. I am so thankful. Thankful for Gregory. Thankful for RDI. Thankful for this journey.