To the parents struggling to get a diagnosis.

Being a parent in itself is an amazing and terrifying thing. We want what's best for our children, for them to happy and most of all healthy. So what happens when when you just know something is wrong. You can feel it down in your bones but no one will listen? 

Somewhere around 18 months I could tell something was not right with my son. He wasn't responding to his name, he wouldn't make eye contact, and he would hardly eat anything. As time went on he wasn't talking, he was inconsolable, he became obsessive about certain toys and would line them up all over my house. I finally decided to make an appointment with his doctor to talk to him about my concerns. I was pretty much brushed off as a paranoid first time mother. Right there on paper he had failed written for EVERY milestone yet he insisted Dominic would catch up.

I decided to get a second opinion and took him to a new pediatrician. He told me my son was too young for any testing and told me I would have to wait. This was not an acceptable answer for me so I kept looking for new doctors. Finally my mom found a doctor about 50 miles away that was willing to listen to me so we took him to see her. After listening to everything I had to say and interacting with Dominic she too knew something was not right. She had his medical records sent over from the previous doctor and she cried when she saw he was failing everything and no one was doing anything about it. She finally gave me the referral I needed to have him tested for autism. It was a long process with a lot of paperwork and evaluations  but in the end we finally got our diagnosis a few months later. 

From the moment he was diagnosed I rushed to get him in early intervention. He had in home therapy and then started preschool for special needs children around the age of 3. Had I taken the first doctors word for it who knows how different his life would be. He would have missed out on precious time in early intervention and may not have come as far as he has today.

For any parent who has that feeling, the one you feel down to your core that is telling something isn't right listen to it. Don't let anyone make you feel over protective or paranoid. You know your child better than anyone in the world.  Trust your instincts for they are rarely ever wrong.