The signs...

I'm not exactly sure when I first noticed that something was wrong.

Rory did not use words at one. Arguably, a lot of one year olds don't. But neither did she pointed at what she wanted instead she grunted or cried. She cried when she was thirsty and when she was hungry. Her needs were so basic. When she learned to walk, she would pull up a stool and get water for herself. She barely cried and did not seek out parental comfort. I hugged and kissed her a lot because I wanted and I needed to. If I waited for her to seek them out, I would have to wait forever. She didn't establish eye contact and was fascinated with lining up and stacking up things. Her ability to focus was also very limited. I kept saying there's something wrong and everyone kept telling me she is just young.

Whe she was 18 mos old, I forged ahead and had her evaluated. What harm can it bring. Whe found out then that she was developmentally delayed. She scored around 9-12 mos in language and about 12 mos in her ability to follow directions. Motor wise, she was off the scale, scoring at 3 years.

She was accepted in the Early- On program and started speech therapy. Our goal was pretty simple. One word per month.