April is Autism Awareness Month

Autism is the third most common developmental disorder. 1 in 150 children born have autism. 1 to 1.5 million Americans have Autism. Autism is the fastest growing developmental disability at 10-17% annual growth.
I'm sure that you know someone who has Autism or someone that has been effected by Autism in some way. My own nephew, Tell has a severe form of Autism. At age twelve, he is not potty trained and has never told his mother that he loves her. In fact he cannot speak at all. When he was about six months old he could say two words: ball and mama. Soon after that he began regressing and could no longer speak. It is so sad to know that I will never know my nephew emotionally... never have a conversation with him. But I can honestly say that he is a very joyful little boy. He laughs every day. He loves to be tickled. He loves to watch movies. He is very good at figuring out electronics and how to turn up the volume or change the channel. He can also match written words to pictures. He is a wonderful child and nobody has regretted having him in our lives.

Photo: Auntie Sarah and Telly on the slide. We love going down the slide together. As you can see from this earlier photo. The funny thing is, we never planned to take these two photos for comparison or anything like that. It was just random that it turned out that way! :)


For more information on Autism, you can go to the Autism Society of America website.
If you would like to follow a step-by-step symptom screening, please go to the Autism Screening site. Some of the symptoms to look for include not responding to his/her name, lack of eye contact, and delayed language skills.
If you would like to donate, you can go to the Autism Speaks website for more information.

She Drank By Herself!!!

We were sitting at the couch just a moment ago and Anna grabbed my glass of water from the side table and took a drink from it by herself. She did it three more times after that, too! I'm so proud of my little girl!