I love a good book and if a recommendation is glowing and persistent enough chances are I will be at my local bookstore within 48 hours. But when my friend recommended Jenny McCarthy's book Louder than Words I was pretty skeptical. Evan was two years old and my daughter was just a newborn. The second I became a mother I felt like my heart had pretty much exploded and all my emotions were heightened. Watching coverage of the Iraq war left me in tears, "but that is somebody's son!" I decided I would have more control reading my news online. And if a movie or book was about the illness or death of a child I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole. But my friend wouldn't let up and eventually mailed the book to me. McCarthy's story about discovering and conquering her son's Autism was deeply moving. At the time I thought her Evan and my Evan shared a few traits (beyond their name). Of course her son's behavior was more intense and extreme than my son's, so I quickly dismissed further thought...little did I know.
A year later when Evan was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, I reread Louder than Words with a different set of eyes. One thing that stood out was McCarthy's talk of "the Window." She stated there is a period of time between the ages of two and five (and now people are saying it starts even earlier) where you can pull a child out of their Autistic world. I believe if you have Autism or Asperger's Syndrome you always will. But early intervention can dramatically improve a child's behavior, motor skills, speech and overall level of functionality.
I think when it comes to Asperger's Syndrome this topic is extremely important. Children with Autism are being diagnosed at an early age because people are more aware of the signs and those signs are quite noticable. Whereas children with Asperger's are still being diagnosed later, often during their elementary school years. Their delays might not be as significant. They may speak well, but that speech is often scripted. They may be very bright, but not very social. You really have to understand Asperger's and put all the pieces together to recognize it in a child. And with that recognition comes the ability to seek out therapies, classes and schools. The earlier the intervention, the more time for progress.
A great article about the effectiveness of early intervention with Autistic toddlers:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/conditions/11/30/autism.study/index.html
An organization dedicated to improving Autism screening practices and lowering the age of diagnosis:
http://www.firstsigns.org/
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I have to agree with the "Window" theory- early intervention. My brother, also an Evan, has Autism and my mother was able to identify his delays. She did her own forms of speech therapy and social skills work with him. By forcing him to interact with others through sports teams and scout troops he was able to react well in social situations. He is now 21 and seems pretty "normal" to most outsiders.I just your blog through Facebook and can identify similarities like scripting, staying in their comfort zone, etc. I have struggled to understand him and just reading a few of your posts has helped me to better understand. Thank you!
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