In the Beginning Part 4

Shortly after Zach’s 2 year check-up Debby set up an appointment to have Zach’s speech and hearing tested, and subsequently he was diagnosed with a severe speech delay.  We continued to think that the speech delay was potentially causing other delays in his development and not part of a bigger issue. A harsh reality was about to hit us that we had buried somewhere in our subconscious. 

The severe speech delay diagnosis qualified Zach for a pre-school program through the county mental retardation and developmental disability program.  Subsequently, Zach’s teacher, who had been working with students with developmental disabilities for more than 20 years, noticed Zach was not playing with toys appropriately and lacked social interaction with the other students.  These symptoms along with Zach’s speech delay resulted in a psychologist conducting an assessment. 

Zach was two months shy of his third birthday when he was officially diagnosed with autism and we should have seen it coming. The diagnosis was not a shock, but it was still devastating to hear.  I am six foot six inches, weigh 250 pounds, and I wanted to curl up in a fetal position on the floor and cry.  All the dreams and visions I had of what I wanted to do with my son as he got older were placed in a toilet and flushed down into the sewer.  

No parent wants to be told that their child is anything less than the healthy baby the doctor said you had when you left the hospital with him for the first time.   No parent wants to be told that their child will continue to struggle with daily task we often take for granted as they mature.  No parent wants to be told that potentially their child’s language, writing, and social skills may never be more than an elementary school level of ability.  No parent wants to receive a diagnosis that will limit their child’s physical and mental capabilities.  No parent wants to receive a diagnosis for their child in which there is no cure, but this was the reality we were given and had to live with as it was the truth.  Autism was the prison that decided to incarcerate Zach and as his parents we needed to figure out an escape to free him from this neurological confinement.