Every loving parent considers their child to be special. My son is special to me because hes my baby. But what happens when they are considered special for other reasons as well?
Christopher was born healthy and naturally like any other child. He sat up, grew his first tooth, rolled over, said dada around the same time the textbooks said he would. Then around his tenth month he started to not respond at all to verbal prompts or show any signs of ability to hear. He was not walking either.
When Christopher turned two he was declared Autistic by the state of Florida. That is when he became not only special to his parents, but to the rest of the world as well.
For a new parent it is hard enough trying to learn as you go. For a new parent having to just go and eventually learn, that can be rough. What the textbooks tell you automatically goes right out the window. Sometimes right along with your patience.
A child who can speak and express his wants and needs to its parent gets taken for granted far too often by some. A child who cannot express his wants and needs verbally or otherwise is something a new parent just does not fathom. It becomes vital to your lifestlye to know the look of hunger, wetness, sleepiness, virtually anything a child may need from his facial expressions or his different mood changes.
Christopher in the last three years with extensive therapy has greatly improved, but is no where near the mental level of any child I know his age. Over the course of time we have developed a system for understanding what Chris is trying to tell us but cannot. He does alot of things differently than other children do but one thing he does the same as any other child, is love his parents unconditionally.