About a Boy

It snowed that day in March. A baby boy was born and he had ten fingers and ten toes. He was perfect, and he was healthy. Thank you, Lord, he was healthy. His lungs were strong and his cries filled the room. The mother held her baby, and he became quiet and still. He looked around in wonder with big blue eyes and his parents looked at him and wondered how they would raise this tiny baby. They took him home and loved him. How they loved him! This baby boy slept through the night by the time he was two or three months old. He smiled often but cried and spit up a lot, too. The milestones were checked off one-by-one, albeit a little late. He didn’t crawl until he was a year old or so, but rolled around like a steamroller instead. He didn’t walk until 18 months. The doctors suggested physical therapy, but the parents just thought he was stubborn. By age 2, this boy was mesmerized by wheels and music. How sweet to see his interests develop! By age 3, he didn’t just like certain things like wheels and music; he was obsessed. And he was easily scared by simple tasks like walking to his room by himself. By age 4, “strong-willed” and “bad attitude” were used to describe him but so were “charming” and “sweet.” By ages 5 and 6, many of the same fixations from age 2 still existed and this was clearly not a phase. It seemed impossible for him to follow instructions. Perhaps he just happened to be the most stubborn child in the entire history of the world?

But, no, there was a feeling. A nagging feeling. Something wasn’t right. He was healthy on the outside, but the parents knew that there was something wrong on the inside. But what? Issues due to hearing loss? Aspergers? Autism? ADHD? Something else? And so it began. The whirlwind. Applications. Appointments. Meetings. Research. Questions…

*to be continued*

(Read Part 2 here)