The Skinny

For some of you just tuning in, I thought it might be good to start from the beginning. You know, for the sake of a new year <smile>

Some of you may not have read the book. Some of you may only know shreds of how this is all pieced together…perfectly under God.

You must know. I must tell you.

After receiving degrees in speech pathology and special education, I was assigned a few clients with special needs.

These children were non-verbal. These children were capable of learning.

These children had autism.

So there I was, 3 months pregnant sitting on shag carpet in the home of one of my clients. She was learning sign language and I was teaching her. As I became more aware of her behavior, likes and dislikes and sporadic movements, autism was becoming a part of my daily intake.

She was challenging but she was learning.

I left that house exhausted. Every time.

I left that house wondering how on earth that mom was surviving. Every time.

Fast forward 6 months later and I was holding my first baby.

William.

He never crawled. He scooted. Sitting up on his own took him a loooong time and we worked on it everyday. Milestones were few and far.

Then I started to see some real stuff.

I started to see some similarities in him and the client I once had.

Once I saw it, it never left. It stayed. It truly lurked behind every moment I had with him.

There I was on the other side of the table. They didn’t teach me this part of the side in grad school…

I couldn’t leave and shut it off until the next day like I did with my client and her mom.

I was that mom.

I never wanted to be that mom.

He began therapy at 16 months and by two and a half, he was officially diagnosed.

That was an early diagnosis at the time. That was over six years ago.

Since then, it’s been twists and turns.

I have a passion. It found me. I didn’t seek it.

Perfectly under God. The buck stops there.

That’s the skinny! Aren’t you glad you know now?

To read more blogs from Melanie, Seth and TheFowler4Group, check out their Website (www.lookatmyeyes.com) and while you’re there, buy a copy of their book, “Look At My Eyes”.  Or find them on YouTube.  To contact TheFowler4 Group email: [email protected]

Seth/Melanie Fowler

Authored, Look at my Eyes, a parent's perspective re: navigating autism-early intervention, insurance, treatments, a paradigm of a family & child with autism