My Autism Story

Hi, my name is Ricardo, and this is my story. My story started on December 22, 2006, at 9:36 am in the morning. That is the day I was born. I was born by Cesarean Section, and weighed 8lbs 3ozs, and was 20 inches long. Everything started out so normal.

Then at the age of 3 months, I was diagnosed with Asthma and put on breathing treatments. For the most part, I was a normal baby.

However, when I reached my first birthday and had yet to begin showing signs of trying to walk or even talk, my mom became worried and suspect that something maybe wrong. I was not even babbling.

I did not walk until I was 18 months old. At the age of 22 months, I was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder. That diagnosis was changed when I reached 33 months of age. I was then diagnosed with High-Functioning Autism.I then started receiving therapy from a program called Babies Can't Wait. The therapist taught me and my family to communicate with Sign Language.

With this new knowledge of talking with my hands, it then made it possible for me to communicate with my mom. At the age of 3, I was placed in a Special Needs Preschool. I attended this school for the next two years. In the middle of my second year at the preschool, I finally discovered my voice and began to talk a bit. Not understandable words, but words no ne the less.

I finally entered normal Pre-Kindergarten at the age of 5. By then I was talking a little more clearly. My words were sometimes hard to understand, but after 4 years of silence, my mom was just happy to hear me talk.

I have struggled constantly to get where I am today. I am a child who is completely different from any other. I shall now explain what it is like being in my shoes. I am an 8 yeat old boy living with Autism.

Everyone I meet looks at me as if I'm strange. I show out in public for what appears to be no reason. My mom tries her hardest to help people understand that I am different.

My cousins do not want to play with me and my sisters only want to fight with me. My family thinks I am emotional and out of control. That is not true. Although my name is Ricardo, my family and friends call me Riki.

I am an 8-year-old boy living with Autism. I am ranked on the ASD scale. But I am not Autism. I am a child unlike any other I have melt downs and show out. I get upset if things do not go just-just my way.

I am hyperactive and suffer from Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder and Significant Developmental Delays and Speech Impairments with Sensory Issues. This is what the doctors say about me. But I am a child.

An extra special child, who love cars, trucks, trains, and planes. Who shows out and needs medicine to help me control myself. I am a child, an extra special child who is loved by his mommy, daddy, and sisters. I am extra special.

God made me special for a reason and later I will make something great of myself. Doctors say I may never live alone cause every day has to be planned out for me and explained to me step-by-step. But I plan to show everyone that I am not defined by my Autism.

I plan to show them all that I am a child unlike any other.