He said the "A" word and I didn't believe it.

"Has anyone ever talked to you about Autism about your son?" asked the doctor. In my mind "WHAT? THIS DOCTOR IS CRAZY? I blurted out, no. We had dialogue back and forth about my son which we weren't even at the doctor for. We had been there for my daughter that day. I shrugged the visit off and went about my week but kept asking myself if my son could have Autism. I was a special education teacher before becoming a stay at home mom so surely I would be able to identify if my son had autism. We even had a M-CHAT (Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers) done with Early Steps (Florida 0-3 early intervention program) a few months ago among many other assessments. John had quote "red flags" on a few questions but the ladies said it wasn't necessary to refer me on to anyone. John continued receiving speech at home through Early Steps and was making small improvements.

A few months passed and I didn't give any thought to the doctor and his crazy comments. January rolled around to go to John's three year old well check. We saw a different doctor, one of our favorites in the practice. The nurse asked normal developmental questions "Can your son tell you if he is a boy or a girl?" I answered no. Not only could John not say boy or girl, he didn't know the difference. The nurse asked "Can your son tell you how old he is?" Again, no. This is was not something my child could understand or tell me.  "Is your child able to say his name?" I answered no. My three year old could NOT tell me his own name. The doctor entered and asked me about John and I told her he would be going to school for a PreK class and speech therapy. She responded I want to refer you to the developmental pediatrician in Jacksonville because your son may be on the autism spectrum.

This was the beginning. At first I was in denial but I looked more and more at my son's "symptoms." I had to do something for my son, because I AM his advocate.