The word 'Typical' has taken an entirely different meaning to me. My daughter was diagnosed with Autism last October. Initially, it was a punch in the gut. I always knew that there was something not quite right with our girl but she was happy, and healthy. My hubby and I just thought she was having a speech and language delay. She was getting better, but not. It really was hard to pin point anything. Her newest SLP told me her thoughts and suggested we get our daughter evaluated for ASD. We did and here we are today. Our daughter is not a typical child. That was tough to adjust to saying neurotypical (NT) versus our kiddo....a kid on the spectrum.
I mourned the loss of crazy sleepovers, parties, and just having a happy, well socialized kid. Even though her prognosis is good, there is still so much that is unknown.
Out typical day is now ABA therapy, speech therapy, OT, social groups and special Ed preschool. This poor child is so schooled out by the time it hits 3 o'clock. She loves the structure of it all but sometimes she just needs her little escapes.....jumping, rocking, organizing things, and the rare instance that she has a meltdown or starts to flap her hands.
And then there is her little brother. My Pumpkin #2 is super cute, has hit all milestones, except in one area. He started cooing then stopped for months. Now he is cooing again but no babbling. Smiles, makes eye contact, engaging.....down the same road as his sister? Who knows. Only time will tell. So far, with the exception of cooing, he is doing the exact same things as Pumpkin #1 but I am not worrying about it. If he ends up a NT kid great, if he ends up on the spectrum also, that will just fine too.
I don't know maybe there is no such thing as a typical life.....
