Being different

I have always considered myself different than other people. I never played really played "pretend", I didn't have many friends and I always liked knowing about "stuff". I didn't really like playing with toys nor watching TV. I was weird. But I knew I was weird and I saw the good side of it! I was smart, accomplished and independent and that was good enough for me! It never really occurred to me that being different or weird was a bad thing.

Until I had kids of my own. My little man Patrick, who is 3 years old, it different. He has always been different than other kids. Even as a little baby, people would talk about their little ones and Patrick was different. Patrick was always extremely sensitive and couldn't stand change. When he was 3 months old, we left him for a few hours and he screamed the WHOLE time. From that day on, we couldn't leave him again. From that moment on, I couldn't leave him at all. Not even to go in another room. He would just scream. Not like regular separation anxiety - for him, it was torture! Poor little guy.

Fast forward to now. My little man is 3 years old and cannot make a sentence. We (parents, grandparents and select few) can understand what he's saying, but that's all. We brought him to see a speech therapist and she indicated that he was pretty severely delayed. Probably around a whole year behind other kids. So we started therapy.

He also started school at the beginning of September. It's a cute little preschool on Aylmer road. The first week, he screamed the whole time, but somehow, over the weekend, he decided that he liked school and wanted to go! No other kid did this. He also had a few accidents. He was very nervous at school. If anything changed (like if they went to the gym next door, if one of the teachers was absent, etc.), he would be all upside down. Also, when things change in life (like me going back to work, his father being on parental leave, his father going back to work, etc.), he freaks out. Every time I go anywhere or people come over, they ask me what Patrick has, why he's different. It's very unnerving. I love my son and I don't care why he's different! Just accept him for who he is! But since I want the best for him in life, I decided to pursue the matter further.

So far, I have gotten suggestions that he's autistic, or that he's hyperactive, or that he has dysphasia or even that he has Asperger syndrome! So I spoke to the family doctor who has been on standby for the past 3 months to see how things are going and he has referred us to COPAIN in Gatineau (a pediatric center). He will be seen by specialists to determine if he does in fact have a condition or if he's just different because that's the way he is. Either way, I will help him. We're still working on his speech and Robert and I are seeing a psycho-therapist to see how we can handle this "interesting" situation. Hopefully we'll get answers soon!