Eli was born a preemie and was always the perfect baby. Hardly ever cried but had a few issues. He outgrew those issues and then grew into some other issues. We had mentioned them to our pediatrician who at first seemed concerned and then dismissed them as he will grow out of them and all toddlers are different. Well, we waited for him to grow out of these drastic behaviors but he either seemed to grow out of them or stayed with them and they just seemed to mellow in our minds because we got so used to dealing with them. When he did grow out of something he grew right into something else. We found a new doctor for the kids because that doctor dismissed Eli so quickly and dismissed some of other concerns with Gracie so quickly. Gracie has severe ADHD. Well, we decided to wait till Eli started school to see how he did before we did anything since Gracie has ADHD because that is what we truly though it was. His problems mellowed some more at his first kindergarten, but some of them were brought to our attention by his teacher (some we knew about and some we hadn't known about since he had never been in a classroom setting). We still decided to wait because there was no way we were going to put our son on medication in kindergarten. The teacher was awesome with him and with us. Then we moved. That is when we knew we had to do something. He was great at home but at school was a different story. He hated it. His teachers didn't communicate with us. They didn't take any of the issues we were dealing with and help him out. It was like dropping him off the first day and each day after he was supposed to just know what to do and the meltdowns after school got worse! About an hour after he got home though he was fine for the most part. We talked to the doctor but agreed to wait to test him for ADHD till first grade. We were going to wait to see what his teacher and class was like to see if that helped at all. Well, first grade came and by the second week he was being tested for ADHD. I think always in the back of Randy's and my mind's we knew it was something else but just didn't know what it could be. We started treating him for ADHD within a week of the testing and he did a lot better in class. He was on green every day but he was still behind academically (which was always an issue) except in math. He couldn't read at all! He was getting off the bus everyday crying. Trying to get away from everyone by hiding (yes, he even would go in the washing machine to hide, talk about scary stuff). I took him to the doctor. We adjusted his meds. It didn't get better. His teacher was telling me everything is fine and he is very friendly. But, when I was at the school, he was not and always to himself. I asked other parents about when I was not there (sometimes a kid acts differently when their parents are around) they told me he was always by himself. Hardly ever with others and when he was it was for short spurts of play. Hmmm! Finally, I started my research! I took all my research to the doctor and we decided to have Eli tested for Aspergers. Well, in December, we got out diagnosis, Eli doesn't have Aspergers but he has Autism. Apergers is a form of Autism but not what Eli has. Eli has been homeschooling since the beginning of second grade and doing AWESOME!! He CAN read!!!! He is even starting to write more! His math skills are coming along! He is an extremely smart kid who just needed a little one on one time! He is one of the most awesome little boys I have ever met and no, I am not saying that just because I am his mom!! BTW, we have now started the testing on Gracie due to the similar issues she has had like Eli's that we always related to ADHD!
