It’s been a long time since I’ve last written here. Just over six years. A lot has happened. Since my last post I got married, moved from Michigan to Massachusetts, and welcomed my daughter Every in December 2019.
Last week, at just over two years old, Everly was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder level two.
My wife Jackie and I have been expecting something like this and are grateful for this diagnosis. The reason we are grateful is now that Everly has this diagnosis, we qualify for the insurance covered support that she needs at this time to overcome her roadblocks and reach her full potential.
Everly is a sweet, usually well behaved toddler. She loves to be around us and is a big time daddy's girl. She loves to be helpful. I can hand her small items and say something like "take it to mummy" and she runs to Jackie, giggling with a big smile on her face.
There are things related to the autism that my wife and I have noticed:
1. Everly does not like open doors. Anything open that is usually closed including the fridge, closet, dishwasher, etc will need to be closed by her to that it restores her sense of normalcy in the world. I've lost count the number of times I'm trying to get something out of the fridge only to have her try to close the door on me.
2. She has precise sequences when she plays with her toys. Such as, when she moves her blocks from one container to another she is totally focused. There have also been times when she has lined up mega blocks in a straight single file line from one side of the room to the other. During Everly's autism evaluation which took place remotely over a zoom meeting, my wife was instructed to engage Everly while she was moving her blocks. The evaluator later commented that she could tell Everly wanted to engage with my wife but was frustrated because the autism was directing her to finish her self appointed task of moving the blocks from one surface to another.
3. There are only 3 tv shows that she will watch obsessively at this time. These are Little Baby Bum, Bluey, and songs for littles. We’ve tried to get her into other shows without success.
Going back to the diagnosis, the reason Everly received ASD level two is because she is non-verbal at this time. We were instructed to start Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) 25 to 30 hours a week.
As of right now we are waiting to be assigned an ABA professional who can make house calls to work with Everly. Once we get into an ABA routine I’ll update you guys to let you all know where we’re at.
