by Cheryl Dorfman
Before I had a child, I knew nothing about autism. I was vaguely aware that kids with autism didn’t speak much and didn’t interact with people much. After I had my daughter I was acutely aware that more and more kids were being diagnosed with autism. I remember my daughter giving me smiles, great eye contact, and saying “hi” at the obscenely young age of 6 months, and thinking, “Whew, we dodged that bullet!” However, behavior issues started cropping up as early as 9 months. My daughter would cry when things did not go the way she wanted. I remember her crying hysterically when the birds we were admiring on our deck would fly away, when she didn’t want them to fly away. At the time, I remember thinking that was a sign that she was smart.
As she grew older, these crying fits would increase. Anything that didn’t go her way would cause her to cry. Leaving a play date or party, would almost certainly cause her to cry. The older she became, the more intense her tantrums would be.
When she was about 20 months old, her language really took off! All of a sudden, she was exploding language. I was trying to keep track of every word she was saying, but after reaching 150 words in 3 days’ time, I stopped and concluded she had a full vocabulary. She also started saying pretty complex sentences. She was also so smart. She was good at memorizing things and had already mastered colors, body parts, shapes, etc. She was able to spell her name before her third birthday!
Still, the terrible twos really applied to her. She had multiple tantrums each day. She really loved using the word, “No!” I thought this was typical behavior for a two year old. I enrolled her in preschool during this time for a couple of days a week. She absolutely loved school and would tantrum everyday when it was time to go home.
After she turned 3,
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