Being that this is my first post, I should probably give some basic background about who I am and where we are in "our life with autism". My hope is that this blog will be a place of journalling for me so that I can look back and see Katie's progress, and truly, our family's process.

We are a family of four. My husband, Bill and I , and our two daughters, Mary who is almost five, and Katie, who will be three on Friday. Katie was officially diagnosed with autism this past March.

Many people often ask how or when we first wondered about Katie's autism, and as her mother I would say that I have known something was wrong since the time she was about a year old. She never liked physical contact or social interaction like our older daughter did -- she didn't like being held, she often appeared deaf to others and she never responded to her name. I remember my grandmother visiting our home and banging tin pans together over Katie's head to see if she would turn toward the sound. She was about 18 months old at this time -- and she didn't turn towards the sound. We began having her evaluated for her speech delay -- or should I say, her complete absence of speech when she was 18 months old. By the time she was 30 months old, we had our official diagnosis, and our journey with autism was officially underway.

Katie's autism behavioral specialist has encouraged me to journal because it can be a great tool in helping you to see how far an autistic child has come. When a friend of mine suggested how much she enjoys her blog, I thought that it might be a great place for me to put down all of my feelings and perhaps be able to share them with others as well...