Finding Out - Part 2

Soon after the wonderful woman from the Regional Center (Far Norther Regional Center) came to my house to assess my son, I received some phone calls from people she had referred to me to help my son.  I was so unfamiliar and confused by what was going on, that the "wonderful woman from the Regional Center", I'll call her "my first angel" from here on out, just handed me all the tools I needed to start helping my son. 

First the Speech Therapist (ST) called me, then a local agency that did a lot of early intervention (birth to age 3), and then the Occupational Therapist (OT). Two of the agencies came to my home (I had to go to the OT which was fine) did their own assessments, and then created a plan to work with my son to help him make as much progress as he could in the 3 months we had. As we talked and met, and I explained how wonderful my son was, they all joined me in a team effort to help my son as much as we possibly could before he turned 3 and was no longer eligible for early intervention (birth to 3) in the state of California. 

Over the course of the next 3 months I saw changes come into my sons life as his "teachers" worked with him and helped him cope with his many challenges.  Some of those challenges were night terrors, refusing to eat, being limited in talking, refusing to look me in the eyes, changing from one event to another, holding my hand, wearing clothing, wearing shoes, and letting me be close to him. To a lot of outsiders who saw my son do these things, it would appear that I was just not parenting him well and that his actions were all a result of my lack of "being in control".  There was something instinctive going on there though.  Something that could only be communicated at those rare moments when he looked me in the eyes.  Fear.  Confusion.  Helplessness.  Joy.  Intelligence.  Desire.  Asking for help.
My son was, and is, amazing to me.  As we began to do his therapies together, I discovered that he was a fighter, and that more than anything, he was a social child who wanted friends and wanted to be loved and accepted.  As I saw that, it ignited the fire in me of wanting that for my son - for him to be accepted and to have friends.  That became my motivation to take him to every therapy appointment and to work with him on things at home in our "free" time.  Somehow he helped me understand what he was missing out on life, and truly wanted, friendship and connection.