Fighting the fight

[Vi356]

This is a never ending battle. Everyday- working on saying that one word, a new sound, or breaking through some barrier that may seem small to most, but for us, it is a milestone. My son, Gabriel, is high functioning autistic. He does not have much in the way of verbal language, but he is quite skilled in signing. He only pronounces the vowel sounds when he speaks, not many consanants. THank you sounds like ahn ooo. But I encourage every word or sound that comes out of his mouth. He said wolf two days ago. We were watching tv and a wolf was on animal planet and he looked at me and said "wolf". I cried. Then I called all family members I could think of to hear him say his latest word. I know to most of you this probably sounds so little of an achievement, but for my baby, this is amazing!!!! He will be seven in March. He just pulled out his first tooth a couple days ago, too. I can't believe he's old enough to be losing his teeth.

I've had so many people ask me if I could change him, would I? For a while I thought I would. But then he wouldn't be my baby Gabriel. He is very intelligent, in fact, the only way the autism affects him is his speech and he gets anxious in some social situations. He is so precious, he will point to himself and then to me and then he will sign " we're best friends"  It melts my heart. I know that he needs a lot to get him over his boundaries, and I am determined that he will get them. The pace is not always fast, and sometimes it doesn't feel like we're moving at all, but we never give up. We never will. He will talk, just like all the other kids, and he will get better with his anxiety. I know that god has a plan for him and it is a great one. It has taken me a while to find that strength to not get so upset when I think about it. I used to sit over him at night while he was sleeping and pray to god to just let him say one word the next day, even if he had to take my voice to do it. But I realized that god did not punish me or my son. He has a plan for both of us, even if his plan for me was to have Gabriel so that he could do something great.