Our Version of Normal

I'm been asked over and over what signs Reagan (15), Kaelan (15) & Leo (2 1/2) showed as toddlers that led to their diagnosis of autism.  Since early intervention has been proven to be one of the biggest advantages for children with autism, I wanted to share early signs we experienced with our boys to possibly help facilitate others to seek help sooner than later.   For us, it wasn't until all 3 were a year or older when the signs became apparent. Their first year, aside from the premature birth of Reagan & Kaelan was pretty typical. They smiled, made eye contact and met cognitive and physical milestones for the most part on time.  When Reagan & Kaelan were around 16 months old, I thought something was going on because they were so different from Riley at that age. I attributed the differences due to them being born 5 weeks early. I also thought maybe we'd neglected to entertain them as much as we had Riley with silly songs, patty cakes, peek-a-boos, read...

Do you ever get the feeling like you have a giant booger on your face or maybe forgot to put pants on before leaving the house? I do. I catch people staring or even gawking at us every. single. day. I'm not talking about short little covert glances, but big wide eyed "OMG, would you look at that family!" stares. There are days that I feel like we are the accident in the road and everyone is rubbernecking to get a peek at the gore. Sometimes, it's for the sheer size of our family (which by Dugger's standards, we are kinda small). Other times, it's the "Down's" element. Many times, it's because one or more of the boys are doing something obnoxious, fighting with each other or being disrespectful to us (have you ever tried to rationalize with someone on the spectrum?). And wait, we can't forget Leo's pepperoni sized birthmark on his head because it definitely gets it's fair share of horrified looks. Some think I'm be...