AN AUTISM MOM REFLECTS ON HER SON’S PROGRESS AND JOURNEY THROUGH SENSORY, COMMUNICATION, AND SOCIAL CHALLENGES OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS.

By Ashley BURSIAN

It’s been a few years since I have contributed our stories of autism-life perspectives and adventures. Certainly this is not due to lack of available material. We’ve just been busy living and surviving.

Ari and progress

The last time I contributed, Ari was six. He has made some significant progress in his social skills. Although Ari is still very much considered nonverbal, in the sense that he is unable to functionally communicate and cannot engage in fluent conversations, his vocabulary bank has expanded. His means of communicating needs with single words or three to four word sentences, versus simply taking my hand and flinging it in the general direction of what he wants, has improved. He makes more eye contact, and understands the word “no”.

Ari and communication

I often feel strange or unsure when trying to explain to neurotypical people, who are mostly unfamiliar with autism, how I communicate with my child. I certainly do talk to him as if he can understand everything I say. And for all I know, I think he can understand a portion. He just doesn’t know how to express understanding. I still have to utilize tone of voice over actual words to get through to him overall, but that’s still progress.