Living With and Loving My Aspie

Early Elementary Years February 13, 2009

Anna was sick often and on antibiotics several times before we moved her to a pediatrician who never prescribed antibiotics for her throat.  She missed 18 days of kindergarten.  She would get a very sore throat and high fevers that lasted about 3 or 4 days.  Motrin and Tylenol would not take her fever down unless we alternated between them every three hours.  We could not tell she was sick until her fever reached 101.  Anything below that would not slow her down.  She was always on the go.  She would only slow down when sick.    Her fevers often would go up to 103 or 104 degrees which would make her throw up.  Finally, at age 6, she saw a different pediatrician who realized that the only reason Anna went to the doctor was for her tonsils.  So, in the summer between kindergarten and first grade, she had her tonsils removed.

The beginning of each school year proved to be challenging as she attempted to deal with change which was difficult for her.  In kindergarten, she was disappointed that there was no prayer at mealtime and that the teacher did not openly welcome hugs.  She was used to prayer and hugs at preschool and really missed this. 

She did adjust after time and made a best friend.  The two were inseparable.

The Preschool Years February 12, 2009

We had no clue that Anna (not her real name) was anything but a typical 2-year old.  The only odd thing was that she did not cry when she came to us.  She seemed a little nervous at first but she adjusted quickly.  She was potty-trained before age three and has never had a problem with bed-wetting since then.  She went to preschool for two years.  No issues in preschool.  She loved being at a Christian preschool with warm loving teachers.  She had a best friend at school, Mary Kathleen.  They were inseparable during those two years. 

During those years, she took gymnastics class.  She was easily distracted and would not stay in her group.  If she saw something more interesting going on across the gym, off she went to check it out. 

She quickly acquired a large collection of stuffed animals and a few dolls.  We thought it was really cute how she would go to bed and then pile all of them around and on top of her.  Sometimes, after she had been in bed for a while, she would call out to us that so-and-so was missing.  We’d look around and find it in the family room or someplace else.  She did this every night.  It was like she was taking roll-call.  She really surprised us with her memory of “her guys’ as she called them.  Her favorites were an Esmerelda doll and a stuffed penguin (the beginning of her passion for penguins). 

The first time I let her play with play-doh, she played with it for 1 1/2 hours.  Quite an attention span for a 2-year old I thought.  I remember once when, instead of coloring, she lined her crayons up on the floor.  At the time, I knew nothing about autism and did not think much of it other than it was a little odd, but interesting.

How it started… February 11, 2009

Our first child came to us through foster care.   We fell in love with her immediately and knew we wanted her to be with us forever.  She was 25 months when she came home and 5 1/2 years old when she finally took our name and we committed to love her and raise her as our own.  She talked, laughed, played.  We didn’t notice anything wrong with her.  To us, she was perfect.