A quick necklace

My son has never been an easy going child. Even as a new born, he never seemed to sleep, to stop crying, and eating was always a bit of a struggle. As he grew, he seemed to develop a speech delay. We had countless hearing tests and ear exams, but everything seemed normal. So we went on a waiting list for a speech therapist.

Throughout all of this, there were a few behavioral issues that everyone wrote off as being out of the frustration that he couldn't express himself clearly. When he started school, the special needs coordinator suspected something a bit more. So, she got us in contact with the hospital to begin the process of diagnosis.

It didn't take them very long. Officially he has been diagnosed with PDD (Pervasive Developmental Disorder) and ODD (Oppositional Defiance Disorder). There's also a few other suspicions including ADHD, but we all figure he's got enough letters to put after his name at the moment so we'll just stick with what we've got so far. If you're like I was, you probably have no idea what any of that means. Basically, he's on the high functioning end of the Autism Spectrum. (Check out a show called Big Bang Theory. Sheldon is pretty much my son. But without the physics stuff. Although he is only 7, so we shall see.)

Every day is a struggle. It's a lottery to see what mood he'll be in at any given moment which makes life exciting, but extremely hard to plan. Sometimes I feel like I had quintuplets, just all in one body. As such, he's sometimes quite hard to love, and we tend to surround ourselves of little reminders of our special little guy.

So when I found these awesome Autism Awareness charms, I had to get a few! And one has made it's way onto my neck.






This is a simple necklace, which makes it perfect for everyday wear. I cut a length of chain, attached jump rings to the ends, and strung on the charm. I also have a heart charm with my son's name on it, but I didn't really like both charms at once.

So next time you see a child misbehaving, and parents who look like they're ready to give up, please try to have a bit of understanding that maybe the issue runs deeper than just bad parenting. And really, the most helpful thing that you can do is just to give us a sympathetic smile. We get enough dirty looks and negative comments. Believe me, we have more than enough negative comments in our own heads!