“Like most mothers when my son was born, I inspected his tiny body to make sure he had all ten fingers and ten toes. He passed every newborn screening test, and my doctor gave us the okay to take my healthy baby boy home. To my physical eye, he was exactly the way I imagined he would be. Over the next few months, he met every milestone that was expected. He cooed, followed me with his eyes and began sitting up and rolling over sooner than his two siblings had. Mommy, dada, ball and cookie were his first words. He was walking and talking, discovering knick–knacks around our home and developing into a typical toddler.
Over time, I started to notice that he was not talking very much anymore. He stopped saying new words and rarely said the ones he already knew. At two years old, throwing tantrums and pointing his fingers were his preferred methods of communication. He was the happiest when he was at home, and visibly uncomfortable when we were around larger crowds of people. I started to become very concerned that there was something “wrong” with my son. I did not want to hear a doctor’s explanation of what was going on with my child, but I knew that getting a professional opinion was necessary for my child’s well-being”.
-KaSondra Toney
