Autism Awareness Month - Day 7 Our Story Part 2

I started our story a few days ago. If you haven't read the first part yet, check it out. Our Story Part 1

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Back to the email. I finished our email to family updating about how much he had grown, how he did with his shots, what the doctor said about his development, etc. After sitting down for a rest (I was very, very newly pregnant), it was time for our little man to wake up. I went to get him when I heard him cry, changed his diaper, and sat him down to play with some toys. It wasn't long before I started to notice he wasn't talking to me. He normally was quite chatty after a nap. I didn't worry, figured maybe he was tired after an eventful morning, and went about our day. As it got later he still wasn't talking ... at all. I tried to engage him, but no words.

My husband came home from work and I didn't say anything, I wanted to make sure I wasn't just off my rocker. He started to ask me if Charlie Brown was feeling OK because he wasn't talking. What we didn't know was that the words he spoke before I put him down for a nap would be his last words for a long, long time.

We all woke up the next day and that's when the craziness started. He started his morning with breakfast (a fitful breakfast) and then proceeded to bang his head into hard objects (the wall, the TV, whatever he could find). This freaked me out completely. By that afternoon the running had started. Hours and hours and hours of endless running. He would only stop if he ran into something like a piece of furniture, a wall, a door, a window, etc. Then he would only stop long enough to change directions. All day it was silence, head banging, and hours and running. This was our new norm. I didn't know how to get him to stop.

I finally decided we needed to speak to our pediatrician. I made an appointment and went in. That would be my first medical world shock, but not my last.

To be continued ...