Are we out of the woods yet?

I hesitate whether I should even dare to answer this question, because I do believe in jinxes. But I also believe that your child is your child no matter what, so in the end it does not matter.

Are we out of the woods yet? Does Giggles appear to be developing normally or will she have a developmental delay like Pookie? First, a few facts:

1. Autism does occur in girls, but it is 4-5x more common in boys.
2. BAGD and I are well-educated and very aware of our children, yet we did not see the full picture of Pookie’s developmental delay until he was almost 3 years old.
3. Giggles is turning 1 on Friday. Pookie hit all his developmental milestones until about age 2- 2 1/2 when the language skills did not evolve from pediatric echolalia to true communication.
4. While we did not know the warning signs then, we do now. In excruciating detail.
5. Autism is more likely to occur in the sibling (especially twin) of another autistic child than in the general public.

So, where are we? Do we think Giggles is developing normally? Yes, we do. All we can do is look for hints that she is on the right track, things that mean something in the world of ASD.

She mimics. If you give her a hairbrush, she will touch the top of her head with it. If you give her a cellphone she will put it on her shoulder. The beginning of imaginative play, a good sign.

She responds to her name. She won’t turn around no matter how many times I call her “Kitty Cat” or “Pickles” but she responds when I call her real name.

She looks to us for approval and acknowledgment. She puts socks in a basket and after each one, she looks to us, to see if we will clap for her. She already understands that she is part of a larger group.

She knows that her blue coat has something to do with getting to go outside and wait for the school bus, one of her favorite things to do. So, she will crawl to front door where her coat is hung and babble while looking up at it longingly. As soon as I take it off the hook, she laughs with delight. If I pick her up first, she reaches and lunges for the little blue coat.

She motions for things she wants. She does not just cry and reach for it, she does a little “gimme, gimme” motion with her hands. She does it alot. She wants alot of things.

She tries to point at pictures in a book. Its clumsy, but she does it and looks up at us. It seems like a small thing, but this one excites us most. She wants others to see what she sees….notice what she notices…share experiences with her.

She cuddles. She says “ma-ma” and “da-da”. She knows where her milk comes from and gets excited when we open the fridge. She claps. She wiggles when we play music. She likes to look at pictures of herself.

Pookie did alot of these things, sure. But not all of them. And not all of them at age 1 year. And not all of them consistently. Does that mean we are out of the woods? Probably. Does that mean we will stop thinking about it? Probably not.

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