Our Autism Odyssey: Post #1: Introduction

This is my first blog post. That’s an awesome way to get things started isn’t it? I’m nervous. That’s obvious. Anyway, please don’t navigate away just yet. I promise it will get better!

Why a Short Series Blog?

Honestly, I was content to keep my narcissism neatly and purposefully contained on Facebook, until recently when close friends (whom I adore) understood what had been weighing heavily on my mind and heart for the last few months and responded by offering me another glass of wine and a quick plea, “Do the blog already!” In all seriousness, sharing our family’s extraordinary journey with autism has become a necessity for me. This short series blog holds two purposes: 1) to detail our personal journey in hopes that someone going through a wilderness of their own can take refuge in hope and comfort promised to all of us by our Lord and Savior, and 2) to hopefully clarify any unanswered questions people may have about our experience with Jacob’s autism. And although I’m not the world’s best writer, but believe it has become the vehicle for which I best express myself, I suppose I also have another purpose for the blog: 3) personal therapy.

I want to be certain to describe our experience to the best of my ability so that our network of friends, family, and acquaintances may have a greater insight into what it’s really like to have a child with autism. If these posts benefit only one other person by offering resolve or comfort, it is well worth it and that’s what God has asked us to do.

2 Corinthians 1: 3-5

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. ⁵ For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.

Weekly Topics

· 2/27/12: Navigating the Autism Wilderness

· 3/5/12: Family and Friends

· 3/12/12: Marriage

· 3/19/12: Raising a Neurotypical Sibling

· 3/26/12: The Future: Fears, Hope and Faith

· 4/2/12: Final Thoughts for Jacob

B.A. (Before Autism)

Approximately a dozen years ago my best friend Jessica and I were approaching college graduation. Unsure where we’d settle down, but knowing that we’d like to begin this new journey together; we ultimately decided to put the names of all the major Texas cities in a hat to identify a place to live. Neither of us was a natural born Texan, but we wanted to stay in the great state. The little paper we drew out stated, “Dallas” so that’s where we moved. We settled into a two bedroom apartment in North Dallas to begin our professional careers. Each night after work the two of us, along with several other friends who also lived in the same complex, gathered by the pool to recap our day. One evening a very handsome guy strolled by and decided to join us. That’s how I met Dave. We were married a couple of years later.

Little Man

We certainly weren’t trying to conceive a child, but soon enough we learned that we were expecting a baby boy. Our beautiful Jacob Ryan arrived perfectly in mid-May 2004. He was gorgeous. He had huge blue eyes and an awesome smile. He was every bit the baby that we had ever dreamed of having. I was in love. We settled in nicely as a family, and Dave and I felt so blessed. Jacob’s developmental milestones were right on schedule; rolling over, crawling, walking and talking right on time. With the little guy on the move, we purchased our first home. I think it’s important to note that we purchased our house with two requirements: 1) it had to have a driveway (Dave was an absolute freak about not having a house with alley access) and 2) it had to be a one-story house (after all, Jacob was 18 months old, and I didn’t want him tumbling down any stairs and breaking his leg).

The Broken Leg

Only a few months after settling into the house, I switched employers from a meeting/event planning association, which required frequent travel, to a position at Children’s Medical Center which didn’t require any travel. It was certain to be less hectic, and on top of that, it was a great next step for my career as a marketer/fundraiser. One day while at work, I received a call from Jacob’s daycare. They notified me that my sweet Jake-Jake was in an ambulance heading to Children’s with a broken leg. I rushed to the ER. Jacob’s femur (thigh bone) was broken in half. I cried. I wasn’t sure if he’d ever walk again. In addition he had a huge knot on his head and a big scratch on his nose. The doctors told us there might be damage to his muscles. He was quickly fitted for a spica cast. A spica cast is essentially a half body cast, and is quite possibly the most heinous contraption you’ve ever seen a 23 month old baby endure. He was required to wear it for 5 ½ weeks. We celebrated Jacob’s 2^nd birthday in that stupid thing. It was an honest accident and unfortunate situation when he fell off the playground equipment at daycare. I questioned how this horrific situation could be happening to such a sweet baby, but little did I know that the broken leg was the first of many steps we’d take on a longer and much more tumultuous road.

Something’s Not Right

Jacob's leg healed perfectly, but just a few months after the broken leg incident, when Jake was 2 ½ or so, new uneasy feelings set in. Uneasiness soon became unsettling. Unsettling turned into all-consuming fear. These feelings were derived from the little differences between Jacob and his classmates; differences that were so minor that I couldn’t pinpoint what they were exactly, but rooted quickly and deeply within me with worry.

There is a quote from the 2006 movie Little Children starring Patrick Wilson and Kate Winslet that perfectly describes my senses, “It was like someone had turned a knob to the right, and the radio station clicked in so loud and clear it almost knocked her over.” The worry in me was so loud. As I said, I couldn't pinpoint why I was worried, but I just KNEW that Jacob wasn't right. In fact, something was really wrong. Yes, with a sickening paralylsis in my heart, something was very very wrong indeed...

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