Thank you so much for stopping by and learning about our son, Jameson, and his journey with autism! Jameson was diagnosed in February of 2023 with level 2 autism. He had just turned 3 years old so while we were devastated by the news, we were thankful that we followed our gut and got him tested so that we could put a plan of action in place while he was still so young.
We started to see signs throughout his first year when he was delayed with basic milestones, like rolling over, crawling, walking, and speaking. We kept thinking, “Oh he’s a boy and they are always delayed,” and really thought nothing of it. We got him into physical therapy pretty quickly after he turned one and his therapist was able to help him achieve those milestones of crawling and walking. However, when he was still not speaking a year later, it was time to get some testing done.
For me, even though I knew deep down he was probably autistic, receiving the diagnosis from the neurologist was gut-wrenching. I chose to handle it the same way you would any tragedy and I allowed myself to be really upset and sad about it. I went through my own levels of grief and in a way mourned the death of the life that I had originally envisioned for him. It might sound dramatic but that is the only way I know how to explain it, because no matter what, his life was going to be different. I really believe it was necessary for me to go through that grief process because it allowed me to get to a place where I was able to switch gears and put all my focus on how to help him. My husband, Greg, and I started reading every book, article, website, etc.. we could find and soaking in as much information as we could. The book, Uniquely Human by Barry M Prizant, Ph.D., is a great book and I highly recommend it to any parents or those with an autistic person in their lives. It really emphasizes that there is nothing wrong with people with autism and nothing needs to be ‘fixed’. You have to find a different route or path that works for them. (I will link the book below for anyone interested in reading it.)
We continue to try to learn as much as we can from therapists, doctors, teachers, friends, parents and relatives of those with autism, etc.. We are determined to help Jameson have the best and most fulfilling life imaginable. If you are reading this and this journey is new to you just know that there will be hard days. There will be a lot of frustration, there is a lot of push-back from insurance companies, etc.., everyday tasks can be more challenging in your household than others, and there are countless moments of pure exhaustion. However, when you do hit those milestones and little victories there is no better feeling in the world. One thing we hope from sharing all our experiences is to give some guidance to others going through the same thing. There’s still so much we don’t know about autism but we can help each other with what has and hasn’t worked for us. Greg and I know firsthand how difficult it is to ask for help so we hope you use our experiences as one of many resources to best determine what will work best for your family.
Uniquely Human – https://rstyle.me/+VUm4pffS3aY6i-oJpl-MZg
Jessie Schu 