Meet Orlando

Introducing the boy with all the joy "Orlando"

The photo above was taken the year Orlando was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder he was 2 years old. We were playing his favorite game of peek a boo! 

I remember him being different from almost the moment I met him. Forty eight hours of labor and he was born 7 pounds with a head full of black hair and skin so dark it glowed. 
I came home from hospital to my husband and Orlando's two brothers the day his was born thinking "I got this!" I was in the adrenaline faze after birth ooops! I probably should have stayed in hospital a little longer, it was 2 am when I made hubby take me back to hospital. I was in full panic mode. Five days later I was diagnosed with post natal depression.

We struggled with feeding and went quickly from breast to bottle. It took a while to get that right because Orlando didn't seem to like the anything I tried. We got the right flow and voila it worked, don't change a thing I remember thinking. Dummies didn't work and eventually when trying him on solids WOW I just couldn't get that right either. At first I thought it was what I was feeding him but later discovered it was the spoon I was using. About six spoons later we found one that worked and now Orlando was 8 months and I was noticing other little things that where different too.

Orlando rolled, crawled and babbled just like all the other babies but he also enjoyed sitting for long periods of time staring at what appeared to be nothing. I would call Orlando's name and he wouldn't respond, we got his hearing checked and it was all good. I said "ta for mum" he was blank and clearly didn't understand. Its not like I didn't know the mile stones he was my third baby, was I comparing them? YES! Why wasn't my little boy meeting his developmental milestones?

I spoke to my Maternal Child Health nurse when Orlando was 18 moths old. We did some testing and it showed he was behind. What do I do now? We got referred to a behavioral specialist. She referred us to Gateways for an Autism assessment. At two and a half  Orlando was officially diagnosed with autism.

Please feel free to share your discovery experience with autism in the comments below. If you have any questions about your child's development don't hesitate to seek advise. Talk to your Matenal Health nurse or GP. No one knows your baby but you, follow your instincts.

Thanks for reading

Jess xx