I'm so impressed!!!!!

Now I'm sure to some, this is no big deal. To me, to our family, this is a HUGE deal. The boy has a writing disability. He hates writing with a passion because it's so damn difficult for him. He's smart as a whip, but when it comes to get that info from his brain to his pencil, well it just isn't easy for him. He recieves OT in school to help with this and he also gets one on one time with the special ed teacher to help him with his writing as well. As a result of this, art is not something that he enjoys, it downright frustrates the hell out of him. For the past two years, ten minutes was the max the art teacher would get out of him when she asked him to pick up a crayon and start drawing. We've accepted it, and she's incredibly patient with him in regards to this.

Well, yesterday he had art, for the first time this school year. They were told to answer the question "what is nature?" in a drawing. The drawing he brought home almost made me cry! He not only wrote the question at the top of the paper, but he drew a picture. An ENTIRE picture! He drew two trees, two cardinals, a bear, a moose, a sloth (hanging in the tree! ), and grass on the ground. He even made white antlers on the moose, which are hard to see, but they are definitely there.

Words cannot even express how proud of him that I am! I gushed over it all night long and I am now proudly hanging it in my living room for everyone to see. I spoke to his art teacher today and she was also so proud of him! She said she praised him throughout the class!
I hope this is something we will continue to see him improve in! It's amazing how well he has started this school year, despite all my fears about it!
Here is the artwork in question..

A few things I've realized lately...

My son is on the autism spectrum. This is a relatively new development in our lives. I've always known something was not right. I've pushed and pushed for some kind of diagnosis, not "oh he's a little adhd" or "he's a little OCD"... fact of the matter is he's not a little bit of those things.. and every doctor we've seen has always just commented on things seperately, not put everything together. Several weeks ago, I was sitting in the psychiatrists office for a med check with him, just like I have every month or so since January, and I was giving her the same lists of complaints I gave her each time. She stops me and says "well we've talked about him having aspergers before". It was a slap in the face. Ummm no, you haven't talked to me about it, nor has the psychologist we see either. She suggested we do some research on aspergers and get back to her. So I ordered some books.

Fast forward, I decide we need to see someone else because I honestly didn't care much for her from the get go. We go see another psychiatrist and he was amazing. He agreed that Connor is on the autism spectrum for sure. He talked to me about how everything we have concerns about all falls under this diagnosis. The OCD tendencies, the ADHD symptoms, the social and behavioral issues he has, everything! Suddenly everything makes sense with him. No, I'm not a shitty parent like some of my so called friends seem to think. No, he's not a spoiled brat who needs to be spanked or disciplined better like some people seem to think.

Suddenly I feel guilty. I feel like I've failed him in some ways. I have pushed him to play with people or act a certain way, when he really can't help it. I've disciplined him for things that he can't help. I've totally had to rethink the way I do things and I'm finally finding things that work.

As bad as this may sound, I'm glad we finally have this diagnosis. This opens up so many more doors for him. He can get ABA therapy, which will help him immensely with his social and behavioral issues. It will help us recognize what triggers him and give us ways to help him deal with the situations that make him uncomfortable. We can get him into a social skills group now, which would be a huge help for him as well. He just doesn't get social boundaries and other social related things that you or I would automatically realize. Even with constant reminders, he still doesn't understand it. I'm getting involved with our local chapter of the autism society, there are so many knowledgable people there that can help us navigate the next part of our lives.

I'm really anxious for the new school year to start. He's incredibly smart, but he worries so much about his work and he doesn't believe he's as smart as he really is. He's got an amazing teacher this year and I hope she can help him understand his true potential.

I feel like this is a new beginning for us. I hope we can now start to help him even more so his life can continue to improve!