I am not a paediatrician, and I am far from an expert on autism. (I would always suggest asking a professional.) But I wasn?t surprised when I learned my son had autism?I?d always known.
Channing had always been a happy, wild and expressive little boy. When I first questioned if everything was ?normal? with him, people seemed shocked. Honestly, my husband didn?t even understand why I was worried. But I could just feel it. We have several friends with babies, all within a few months of Channing?s age, and he always seemed different?and I don?t mean different in a bad way. He was our little wild man (we nicknamed him ?the dragon? because he could totally burn you down, going from zero to 60 so fast that your head would spin). We just thought he had a big personality?and he still does. A lot of characteristics of children with autism can be perfectly ?normal? and age appropriate. But what I?ve learned is that the combination of all of them together leads to an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis.
Channing seemed to develop normally at first, excelling in gross motor skills and topping the charts in height and weight. He started waving and saying ?bub-bub? for bubbles at nine months old. He would also point to the sky when you?d ask him ?Where?s the moon"? It was so exciting to watch him learn and discover the world. It?s what I had always been waiting for as a parent.

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