As some of you may know it was April of last year when we agreed to the testing for our third son in regards to possible autism. I had suspected it for years. I had even brought it up to my pediatrician but he always said, let's wait and see. I waited. We moved cross country. We learned to cope. We learned to survive. Then he went to kindergarten and his teacher suggested evaluations through the District's Diagnostic Team. We agreed to go forward.

We then struggled with pursuing further testing through a developmental pediatrician once the school psychologist had said, "He meets the Federal Guidelines and Criteria for autism." I spoke with our nurse practitioner about what we should do. If we should do anything more. She felt since our district was meeting his educational needs, and we at the present time we were not having issues at home, that pursuing a diagnosis in his medical records would not be necessary, especially given that the autism spectrum is so broad and his late age of 6.

Every so often one of the older boys will ask about it. I have tried to explain autism but I struggle to understand it myself. Autism is a complex developmental disorder. It affects their ability to communicate and interact in social settings. Autism is treatable. A child does not outgrow autism, but rather, through teachings and proper intervention, the outcome looks very positive. I wholeheartedly believe our son will be one of those positive outcomes. I spoke with a mother of a boy the same age as him last winter. Our same school district was unable to give her the answers she needed. Upon further testing through the medical community, she was told that her son had something called PPD-NOS. She said she cried. She felt that all her hopes and dreams for her child were gone. I cried for her. I could not relate. While I struggled with the label, not once, have I or pilot guy ever felt that our child would be anything other than the person God intended him to be. We have the same hopes and dreams for him as we have for our other three sons. In an odd sort of way, I was relieved when I spoke with her. I was comforted to know that our district, in fact, did not easily throw out a label.

A book that I love and gave me practical advice on ASD (autism spectrum disorder) was "Eating an Artichoke". I gleaned so much from this book.

So, today, since we are in the midst of Autism Awareness Month, I am linking to the autism site that has helped me the most, The Autism Society of America.