We’re taking Kirby to the doctor because we’re concerned that he’s not doing the things that a normal 15-month-old should do. To be honest, he’s not even doing the things a normal 9 or 12-month-old should do except walking. I know, everyone at some point wonders why their kid isn’t doing this, or doing that. But this is more than that. I’ve had a feeling that he was behind for quite some time now…I remember posting about it here and there and everyone said he’ll catch up, and that every child does things at their own pace. He still doesn’t say any words. He’ll say mamamamamama or bababababa but not for mom or bottle…just randomly, or he just grunts or whines when he wants something.

He can’t eat most foods still because he gags. He can’t/won’t feed himself…doesn’t even try. He crawled late…11 months; he rolled late…9 or 10 months. He still doesn’t use the pincer grasp…still “rakes” things with his fingers. He doesn’t understand when I point to something, he still stares at my finger, and he doesn’t point at things himself.

He doesn’t wave, kick the ball, stack blocks, or understand most of the toys for his age. We’ve tried to teach him “How big is the baby?” for a very long time and he still doesn’t know to raise his arms. He spins everything…this is a symptom/sign of autism (in conjunction with all the other signs). He does strange things or movements for long periods of time…lots of quirky stuff. (That’s part of what makes us love him so much! He’s so funny!) He doesn’t interact with other people or kids. Remember in Ohio? He didn’t even acknowledge the other kids, just played with the toys by himself…this is a sign/symptom as well. We went over to someone’s house the other day and they had a dog. It was like he didn’t even see it. The people even said that babies either love the dog or are afraid of it. I brought Kirby up to the dog several times and he just glanced at it and didn’t do anything. What kid doesn’t notice a dog?

He doesn’t respond to verbal things…it’s like he’s deaf, but his hearing was tested as being fine…this is also another sign/symptom. Let’s see, basically everything that’s on the doctor’s list of things he should have done at one year he doesn’t do yet. I’m not just being paranoid or over-whatever…I have a gut feeling. I hope it’s wrong though, I really do. So, I’ve been doing some research and he is definitely showing the signs of being autistic. Yep. (I said that to Daddy and he said “Artistic?”…no Daddy, Autistic.) It’s a neurological disorder not an intelligence thing. It’s kind of like his Duane’s Syndrome, but I can’t find any evidence that they’re related, but who knows. I know people will say: “Well, MY kid doesn’t do xxxx yet.” But Kirby doesn’t do ANY of it. Yes, most kids right now aren’t stacking blocks (maybe they are) but the fact that Kirby isn’t doing things like that COMBINED with all the other stuff is what concerns me.

I’ve called my doctor and told him my concerns and he thinks if that’s my gut feeling, then I should act upon it. We’ll see him in a couple weeks unless there’s a cancellation. So, I’m going to contact the Early Intervention office in town and have them review him. If they qualify him, he’ll receive free treatment from all sorts of people, speech therapists, physical therapists, developmental psychologists, whatever is determined that he needs, until he’s three years old. We’re just hoping that he does a huge catch-up and proves us wrong, but we want to take the necessary steps just in case. It made me so mad to even think about this when I first started looking into it. I tried to find any information to prove me wrong but I just kept finding more to prove my gut feeling right. We’ve been thinking about this for a couple of months & just started researching it about a week ago. So now I’m at the point where I’m kind of coming to terms with it and I just want him to get help if he needs it. I’ll keep you posted when I find out more. Thanks for reading.