Close to our house is this wonderful amusement park that is specifically made for children. Many of you might know this place as Sesame Place. Today, out of their wonderful generosity, Sesame Place opened it doors to those children who have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Here are some pictures from today:
Sawyer getting ready for a fun day.
Saxton Says "Hi" from Sesame Place
Sawyer riding his first Carousel. He was laughing his head off once we got going. Unfortunately, they did not allow cameras on the ride.
Saxton can not wait to get going.
A show with the well-known characters of Sesame Street
Both the boys loved watching the Sesame Street play and clapped along with the music.
And after a long day, they both passed out within five minutes of getting into the truck.
For those of you who do not know, Sawyer was diagnosed with the Autism Spectrum Disorder in June of 2007. Since then, we have been in continuous therapy to help Sawyer communicate with his teachers, peers and his parents. Yea see, while Sawyer is considered to be on the high functioning side of the spectrum, he is non-verbal and has trouble communicating his needs to his teachers and his parents. Furthermore, he obsesses with different items, such as lights and musical toys. It has been a long hard struggle in many different ways, but trust me when I say, we would not of had it any other way.
We first noticed that there was something going on in that little mind of our wonderful little man the first day we met Sawyer in Kunming, Yunnan, People's Republic of China. We noticed that he would be obsessed with his reflection in the mirror.
The first time I saw him do this I thought, "if I were him, I would be looking at perfection too." We also noticed that he was obsessed with spinning, lights, rocking and he would never make any type of eye contact; all signs of a Neurological Disorder. We immediately started Googling Neurological Disorders and Autism while still in China. I have seen many people disrupt their adoptions in China for these same symptoms. I have very deep emotional issues with this. My only questions is, if this child was born to you in a hospital and you found out two years later that your child has Autism, would you give him/her up? And please don't tell me it's different because we adopted. It's not!! Your child is your child. Take the responsibility for your decisions to adopt or to have a baby through natural child birth! Don't look for the easy way out. I am now off my soap box.When we got home to Washington State, it was very difficult to get any doctor or therapist to even say they think he has Autism. We went six months in Washington without any type of diagnosis. While the rocking diminished, other obsessions came to the forefront.
It was not until we moved to Pennsylvania that Sawyer was finally diagnosed with the disorder that we have been telling doctors and therapists he had from the beginning. I have overhead some people say that when their child was diagnosed with Autism, it was the end of their world. We, on the other hand, felt a huge weight lifted off of our shoulder because we knew that now Sawyer can receive the proper therapy he deserved.
Over the past year, we have seen Sawyer overcome some of his obstacles. While he is still non-verbal, he is making great eye contact on a regular basis, he does not obsess with lights as much, but he now points at them as to ask what they are, he is beginning to use sign language and he is attempting to make make noises to get our attention. We could not be any happier.
We love our boys very much. They are our world. I can not wait to share our love with their new sister Saffi.
