Progress

I know I talk a lot about autism on this blog. I only knew a little about it before M-Boy was diagnosed. It seems nowadays in western cultures, many people either have a loved one or know someone with autism. I think a major difference between autism and other disorders, such as Downs Syndrome, the spectrum is much wider. What I mean by that is autism can be so mild that people hardly notice or it can be so severe that no one can reach the autistic individual. No two autistics have exactly the same characteristics. M-Boy is considered "high functioning". I really hate those words. I don't know why. They just bug me. If you watched the video of M-Boy talking about his surgery, you probably noticed his odd speech patterns or the way he says certain words. This I think separates him from his peers the most. However, I have noticed lately a change. He is saying short sentences like a teen. I know I shouldn't be happy about slang but for a person with a communication disorder it is progress. Like last night he said "hey mom, there's a firefly!" The intonation was perfect and he used a contraction! It seems so small but for this mom, it is huge. I am doing a terrible job of explaining it all. Just be happy for him. I am.