Interview

How did you feel when Will received his diagnosis? 

 By the time he received the official diagnosis, we were ready for it; we had to wait for that appointment for a few months so we had had time to process everything. How we felt when we first semi-diagnosed him ourselves is a different story; it was very, very hard. I cried and ate entire packages of Oreos by myself :). I have a cousin whose two sons are profoundly disabled (non-verbal) so I was very worried about how severe Will's autism would turn out to be. I was worried about how Chuck and I would handle this challenge. BUT I also felt a lot of peace, especially once the initial shock wore off. I blogged about it after the official diagnosis if you want to read it: http://oursideofthetracks.blogspot.com/2010/07/sweet-sweet-baby-will.html

What helped Will most with his autism? 

Early intervention!!! I think it was crucial that we recognized the signs and sought treatment, it's so tempting as a parent to dismiss any possible concerns or problems and kind of be in denial, but that just delays your child receiving help and being able to make progress sooner. 

Was there any one specific type of therapy that you thought helped with the most? 

Probably just the developmental preschool in general- I'm not sure exactly what methods/therapies they used the most with Will, but going there was so beneficial. I know they did a lot of sensory stuff, we were all thrilled when he finally got to the point where he was comfortable finger painting :).

Has he ever had therapists or teachers that you did not like? Or that you did feel were doing all that they could for Will?

Mmmmm, I think we've liked them all. His occupational therapist when he was 2 was kind of different, but very nice and wanted the best for him. One thing we tried at her recommendation was simulating the womb by me sitting in a completely dark and silent closet, holding Will (he was only wearing a diaper) for like thirty minutes at a time. That was weird :)

What do you feel has made the biggest difference in his life? 

Honestly, I think our approach as parents. Chuck and I both really hands on and interactive and we've tried to embrace this aspect of parenting and be really positive. And not to get too cheesy religious, but we are very mindful that Heavenly Father sent Will to us and therefore must trust us to set aside our own needs and what's convenient and easy and all of that and be the parents that Will needs. 

The other thing that I think is huge is his relationship with Clyde. They're only 19 months apart and Will has benefitted so much from having someone to mimic and imitate and play with and look up to. I think that's a big part of Will's friendly nature and social ease.

What has been the biggest struggle as his parent? 

Not knowing the future. When he was younger I used to just sit and cry not knowing if he would be baptized or ever be able to live alone. Now I worry about his high school experiences and possibilities of dating and marriage. On a more day-to-day note, the hardest thing is not being able to protect him all the time or be with him to make sure people can understand him or make sure he understands things. And honestly, as you'll soon find out (yay!) these are universally true parenting struggles with all of your children, but I feel like it's more acute with Will. 

How has schooling for him gone? Is it harder than with Clyde?  

School has actually gone really well so far. He had an incredibly sweet and patient kindergarten teacher which helped immensely. It's nice because students with learning disabilities or disorders are usually on the radar of the teachers and school staff, so they're checked on and looked after quite a bit. We actually took Will off his IEP this year based on his test scores and how well he's doing and the fact that the IEP couldn't really address the kind of goals we had for him. I feel good about that decision, but it does make me a little nervous to lose the protection that the IEP gives us if we have a problem with something. Luckily his school and principal are very supportive, so hopefully that continues!