Life with PDD-NOS

My husband and I have been dealing with this lovely label since our son turned 16 months old. Joe was a very engaging baby but did not make eye contact very frequently, he started talking in single words but would stop using the words, and never pointed to anything to indicate what his personal needs might be. I became a champion mind reader because this continued until he was 2 years old. Joe was five and a half weeks premature and had already been seeing an early development Doctor as well as his regular pediatrician. I started to suspect autism by the time he was 12 months but did not want to come off as that over protective weird mother who thinks her kid has everything. (That and I really like denial, it's a nice fuzzy place to live.) So I waited until he was 16 months old and mentioned my concerns to our regular pediatrician who had me make an appointment with the other Doctor. We had our diagnosis, Pervasive Developmental Disorder- Not Otherwise Specified, and yes for the first month I had to get the freaking book out when family or friends asked about the name because I couldn't remember it and when I tried to take the short cut and say it was on the autistic spectrum people freaked out. Some of our family members almost burst into tears. This in and of itself was slightly frustrating because they seemed to forget about Joe and just focus on the label he got stuck with. This is when I realized how important it was for me as his mother to teach him that he may have this diagnosis but he is still a completely amazing little man whose smile gives absolute joy to everyone he meets.

My next job has taken me a little longer to learn, Advocate. Part of the problem being I did not know what he needed. Because I am a licensed practical nurse I think a lot of folks assumed I knew way more about this then I did. Personally I wish I had asked for a reading list early on but better late then never. Currently I am reading a few books, Engaging Autism, and another about diet issues. I have found that refined foods have a very adverse affect on Joe's ability to focus on the job at hand,(what ever that may be).

Any how this blog is a simple way for me to vent, organize and possibly share with folks who may be going through very similar situations.