Progress

I am enjoying another Sabbath day and am thankful for the good news I received this week. If I didn't say before, my son has a speech delay. I took a class some time ago as an elective about providing therapies for children with disabilities. My university did not offer any course geared towards adults with disabilities and they only recently created one for geriatrics after more student demand. I personally want to work with adults, but I chose the course because it would give me a good foundation. It also was the only one that worked for my schedule at the time too.

I learned about developmental disorders in more detail and as I watched my son grow with the time frame we progressed through each disorder, I was surprised  when a classmate who inquired about my child's age said I must be terrified. Terrified that he could develop any of the conditions that is.

I had it at the back of my mind as I studied and watched a young family series on youtube. The youtuber's child was exactly one month older than mine and I saw my son follow the same trajectory as hers with easy prediction.

But then as he neared one year, I noticed his words were not picking up. He began to spin more. He began to spin a lot actually. He focused on fans and flashing lights or anything with rapid movement and it was difficult to gain his attention again. He didn't like certain food textures either. I calmly accepted that my son has autism and so before reaching out to doctors or other agencies, I started working with him. I bought him a Samsung tablet and found material online, dollar stores, walmart, and did what most people would argue against  (permit a lot of screen time). I did this because my son would benefit from a lot of repetition and I limited the videos he could access, and let him play mainly with educational toys, some of which were well beyond his age.

The Lord opened doors to get the occupational and physical therapists. He put me in that class so that I could recognize the signs and act in time. My son has gone from someone who screamed, whined and was completely inaccessible to an awesome little boy who I couldn't be more proud of. He says my name!

He received his report card from pre-school on Friday and after attending for only 3 weeks, he has grown so much. He teaches the class the alphabet. He knows many shapes (octagon, pentagon...), says numbers 1-10 in Español and can count up to 29 easily in english. He follows directions, can dance, sing in tune, knows many many songs even some in different languages. He can do puzzles with more than 10 pieces. He can read several words, knows the phonics, write his letters and small words, and do many other things. He just turned three last month.

God is amazing and none of this would be possible if it weren't for Jesus. My son is growing up and he's going to be okay. My son astounded the teachers, doctors, and therapists. His report card is amazing and I am so happy!

God is doing wonders for my family and that is my testimony for this week.

Praise the Lord!