Its Autism Awareness Month!

Thats right! April is Autism awareness month. I like to set this month aside to educate my sweet readers a little more on autism. I have come so far in understanding this diagnosis since Elijah was diagnosed a year ago.

Having your child diagnosed is very overwhelming. My biggest concern was his future..it scared me. And also if i was good enough for Elijah. Could i really give him all he needed? What a journey this year has been! Honestly, i am happy its behind us...because Elijah growth has been nothing short of a gift from God. Looking back, diagnosis was such a wonderful thing. Yes, it hurts to hear your child has "something wrong with them" but if you can move past that, its the beginning of great achievements. Therapy has done nothing short of empowered our family, when our day to day life was getting tough just to function. I have watched my little boy become the person i have always known was there. At 3 1/2 my son said mommy for the first time, it took 2 months for me to stop tearing up every time he said it. I still have many many moments where i tear up. Riding in the car, He is singing along to his veggie tales CD..and the moment hits me, even writing this i tear up, just thinking where we have come from, i am amazed. I had hoped that Elijah would make these leaps and bounds. But there was a part of me that was so scared he wouldn't. A part of me that was so afraid i would never know my sons favorite food, or DVD or color or toy (pizza, monsters inc, orange and legos btw).  This past year i have watched Elijah unfold, slowly, some times so slow that i dont even notice...and then sometimes, it hits me all at once, like the last week i was in a meeting about him, he comes up and blurts out a sentence..and i just stare at him, speechless, because i know i am supposed to respond to him, but i am in shock because i cant believe he just spoke an entire sentence  to me! I still have many of those moments, he still astounds me. I am so proud of him, there isn't a little boy who doesn't work harder than him. He works more therapy hours a week than allot of adults work. He has a long way to go still, but Elijah will get there. I have no doubt. This little boy of mine, he is amazing, tenacious, and my hero.

So welcome to my month of autism awareness, i hope at the end of this month you will understand a little more about it.