Quiet Monday and All About Gabe

It's been a quiet Monday. Actually, a rather good Monday. I woke up early this morning - 5:15. Not necessarily by choice. Rather, it was a combination of a vivid dream and the pressing need to relieve myself. Once up, it was easier to stay up than to go back to bed and oversleep. So, I got to work at 6:45. There are quite a bit of people at work that early in the morning. Get to go home early, which is a bonus.

Not much happened at work. I'm running tests for file rebuilds that I'll be doing. All but one of the first set of tests went fine. I spent the better part of the day trying to figure out why I have a data difference that's seemingly unrelated in the last test. Couldn't find it, so that will be may only order of business tomorrow until I figure it out. I've got a beta install in 2 weeks, so it's imperative that I figure this out quickly.

Left work at 3:15 and went to the gym. An hour later I was off to pick up Gabe. And then it was home. We were home by 6:00. Dinner was on the table by 7:15, and Gabe and I spent the rest of his evening working on his puzzles. He does love his puzzles. Gabe is my 3 year old. He's Autistic. When he was born, he was perfect. But as the days went by and he didn't progress, I grew concerned. Physically, he was fine. Developmentally, he was what I called a "bump on a log." He rarely reached out with his hands and arms, and he rarely kicked. He had nystagmus (rapid side to side eye movement), and he never cooed. It seemed as though no one would take me seriously when I said something was wrong. So I called and got him an appt with Early Steps. At 3 months of age, he was a developmental 2 week old. We got him into occupational and physical therapy right away. A year later, and he was age appropriate for gross motor skills. But still no talking.

By this time we had seen several doctors, had 2 MRI's, several blood workups including a genetics test, and more that I can't even think of now. No one could pin down just what was wrong with him. And until then, we had to keep searching. In the meantime, though, through Early Steps, we got him into speech therapy while he continued occupational therapy.

Another year passed. Still no talking. Wait. One word. Can we guess what that word is? One guess, 2 letters, the first one is 'N'. That's right! N-O, no. Complete with side to side head shaking. It was extremely frustrating. Then, we finally got in to see a neuro-psychologist. More testing, and the diagnosis we had been pushing away for 2 1/2 years - Autism. I cried through out the entire meeting and the rest of the day. It was devastating.

Fast forward 8 months later, and here we are. At home, Gabe is learning sign language. This facilitates his communication without needing anything but himself. It also facilitates occupational therapy. Gabe is also in a ESE Preschool class specifically directed for Autistic children. At school he uses PECS to communicate. I've been partially trained in the use of PECS, but knowing my family, it'll never be done consistently at home. Thus the sign language.

As for his personality - he's come such a long way. I am so proud of him! Gabriel is an affectionate little boy. He loves playing tickle, gives hugs and kisses, and when he's done wrong he seeks you out to be comforted. Just 2 days ago, Gabe actually played pretend! He was watching Elmo. Elmo fell down, so Gabe fell down. And Gabe lay there while mommy oohed all over him. Then he jumped up 'all better', and we celebrated. Gabe also actively uses the sign language he knows to communicate his wants and needs, and he is becoming more receptive to learning more signs. As we show them to him, for the most part, he will imitate them without prompting. He's learning that this helps him express himself!

And Gabriel is speaking 2 new words! 'Yes' and 'movies'. You know when he says 'yes' - he says 'ess', but it's good enough for me! As for 'movies', he signs the word and says 'meese'. Again, good enough for me!

Gabe is now 3 years and 2 1/2 months old. I'd say that verbally, he's 8 months; and developmentally, he's 2 years. But he's going through a growth spurt right now - not only physical but mental and emotional. I am thrilled as is dad. We comment almost daily about things he's doing that he never did before. It is wonderful seeing him grow.

The rest of my Monday is winding down. I'm finishing off this blog, and then I'll fix my lunch for tomorrow. I'll watch CSI: Miami and head off to bed. And maybe, just maybe, Tuesday will be just as good as today was.

For now - happily content - good night.