Before Dominic was diagnosed with autism, I hadn’t really thought much about autism. As a nursing student in our clinicals we do a pediatric rotation, where we learn about the developmental milestones and disorders. Then years later, I worked as a nurse in a pediatric office where some of the patients were diagnosed with autism. I had known what autism was, but not what it really was. Not until it became our reality.
In our case, I felt it was more noticeable that there was something different about Dominic being that he was our second child. We had someone to compare him to. Luca, our first child, hit every developmental milestone on time.
Dominic hit every developmental milestone up until around 15 months old. Around 15 months old, I started to notice that he would not react to his name being called and he would make repetitive babbling noises while looking at his hand. All of a sudden he went from eating whatever I gave him to becoming super picky.
A few months later I noticed him playing with toy cars differently. He focused on the wheels. Dom would take the cars and bring them in the stairs so that the wheels were at eye level. He would just move the car back and forth watching the wheels spin. He never had interest in playing with other toys. He did not know how to pretend play. He would never look at things I pointed to. For example, “Dom look at the airplane in the sky!”
When Dom was 2 years old I knew deep down in my heart that he was on the autism spectrum. I brought him to his pediatrician’s office for his routine 2 year check up. I filled out the MCHAT questionnaire (screening tool used to assess risk of autism). Based on the answers to the questions a referral was made for Dom to see a developmental pediatrician. So it began…
Maine Autism Mama 