This blog post is so long overdue, but i’m finally getting around to it. Kaden turned four on Sunday, that was the 2 year mark from when he was diagnosed with Autism. It was neat reflecting on how far he has come over these last two years, most notably in this last year alone. As we sat down with his teachers and therapists to review his goals for the year, and set new goals, I felt an overwhelming sense of pride as we went down the list checking off each and every goal for the year that has been met. Yes, that’s right....he met every single one of his goals and then some.
For those of you who don’t know Kaden very well, I am always trying to paint a picture of what a special little person he is. On the top of the IEP document, there is a space for a summary of the child. We always start out IEP meeting off reading this summary, and I couldn’t help but get teared up as I read what his teachers had wrote about him. Here is what it read:
“Kaden is a sweet boy with a sense of humor and zest for life. He understands and anticipates daily routines. He is strong visually and recognizes many symbols, photos, etc. He is very physical and tries to imitate verbalizations and/or physical scenarios. He enjoys stories, playing with cars, puzzles, tactile play, construction, pretend play, gymnastics, and all gross motor and structured fine motor activities. He loves his family, teachers, and peers although his engagement might look different sometimes.”
I could not have summed him up better. I will never forget when I received the oh-so-anticipated baby book for Kaden. This was an outline of his developmental milestones....what he was “supposed” to be doing. At about 18 months old, I put away that baby book because I knew he was not on track with his milestones and I was tired of looking at where he was “supposed” to be developmentally. Before I knew it, the baby book was replaced with evaluations, reports and assessments....more than you can imagine. The baby book turned into a binder full of paperwork and documents, and soon it turned into an IEP binder. I’m not going to lie, this made me sad. There is nothing like reading detailed reports of where your child is developmentally, where they should be, and the unknown of when & if they will get there.
Today, my outlook has changed. I love looking back at those initial evaluations and reports and seeing just how far my little man has come. It is amazing. He went from being in his own world at 2 years old, to being a funny, smart & social 4 year old. We have now had the opportunity to get to know him, and this alone has been worth all of the pain and fighting over the last 2 years. He now has speech to tell us what he wants and needs. He has shown us what a witty sense of humor he has by playing jokes on us. He has excelled in school, in all areas. He gets excited for things like his birthday, going to the park, and playing baseball. We enrolled him in judo, and he has loved every minute of it. Yesterday he started t-ball, and it is so much fun to watch him interact with his peers in a way that we weren’t sure if he would ever be able to.
We are going to start the process of genetic testing and he will have an MRI at UCSF next month. This will give us more information, and help put the “pieces” together and hopefully give us some more answers. He continues to have long and busy days, but does it all with a smile on his face. He is truly amazing and I feel so grateful to be on this journey with him. He continues to teach me so much about life, love, and happiness.
