It's our boy's 7th birthday today 🥹 going to be very emotional today about it. Some good and some not so good, if anyone has special needs kids I think it's normal and understandable for us to be a bit sad on days like this. We also had a traumatic birth.. it's just a lot of stuff that comes up to the surface today. But anyway he's been progressing SO MUCH this year and I have such high hopes for him. He has learned the alphabet in sign language recently, as well as some words in spanish and chinese and is using real words much more often (usually talks in gibberish) properly without repeating etc. Like yesterday when I took him to speech therapy, his therapist asked "are you ready?" and he took a second and said "I'm ready" 🥹 normally he would not answer, or if he did, he would repeat exactly what you said so that's a huge step in the right direction! And about a month ago I picked him up early from school for therapy and he started singing his favorite song in the car, word for word! I was in absolute shock, I started bawling and I recorded it lol my face makes ppl laugh when they see it but I was genuinely sobbing from happiness 🥹 He was able to pick out his own halloween costume for the first time ever this year, he was a slice of pizza lol his favorite food. He's been tracing letters and his name at school and he's doing really well with listening and transitioning to different tasks and sharing. Last year, all of his schoolwork came home just completely scribbled, or he would turn the sheet around and color on the back page. But this year you can tell he's trying! At the beginning of the year I had to ask the teacher Is it hand over hand?? Where they help him trace, Or is he doing it on his own? His teacher said on his own, and now he sends me videos every now and then of Lorenzo doing his schoolwork 🥹 there was a time I never thought we'd get here. Everybody's journey with autism is different and we have no choice but to move at his own pace. I'm still terrified every time I think about what the future could hold for him and for us too. But each year I do get a little more brave and more confident. We will do whatever it takes for him to succeed to the best of his ability. We are prepared to take care of him for the rest of our lives. But I still have this giant glimmering hope for him, especially with how much he's progressed in the last 4 years since starting therapy. I know, I know I'm rambling and there's kinda no point other than I just wanna say this shit is so hard but also rewarding and he's changed me for the better. I've never been more patient or empathetic towards others. I know I'm not alone, I know there are other parents to severely autistic children, teens and adults on here. It's comforting to know you're not alone and to be able to vent without being judged. So if anyone ever wants to reach out to me regarding this topic I'm ALWAYS down. Not many parents to neurotypical kids fully grasp our situation even if they mean well. OK that's about it! Ily if you read this all the way, hope you have a good day!
And ofc if you wanna send lil man a bday gift: $legitimatelala we'd be very grateful 💝
