define('DISABLE_WP_CRON', true); _sh1ft.org » looking backwards / looking forwards
May
27

looking backwards / looking forwards

Untitled Untitled Apple thief
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i won’t lie. these photos make me sad. sad enough that when i was browsing my flickr account for photos of the kids, that i literally gasped when i saw pictures of Jovie holding onto things and crawling through a tunnel. things she hasn’t done for a very long time.

they were taken when Jovie was between 7 and 17 months old – my proud display of a growing girl, hitting her milestones and being like any regular kid at that age. back then, i guess you could say we were blissfully ignorant about the challenges children can face, and that’s totally fine. i don’t want to live life expecting the worst when the situation is good – there is a space for being ‘ok’ even if you face a tough road ahead. you have to make room for contentment and acceptance or you can’t move forward.

taking photographs has always been a part of my life, and knowing that i might be taking photos today that could break my heart in the future, doesn’t make me want to stop taking these photographs. i treasure them, as every image i take creates a memory that i don’t want to let go of.

This entry was posted is filed under autism, jovie. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Elle • June 1st, 2012 at 4:38 pm

A friend just found out her 3year old has signs of autism, I couldn’t comfort her as much but suggested your blog to her.
Curious, Jovie was hitting her milestones since 7months but how did she end up with autism? Was she missing a major milestone? Or autism happens to any child eventhough they perfected every milestone/development?

Btw I’ve been ur silent reader for months now 🙂

Tracey • June 4th, 2012 at 4:54 pm

Hi Elle 🙂

Autism is different for everyone – I have not yet come across another kid and said “you are exactly like Jovie!”.

Jovie’s Autism is the lack of speech (no words at all), social play, interest in toys, rocking, self harm (scratching at her skin), obsession/attachment to pictures & specific tv shows, can’t point to things, doesn’t answer to her name etc. Her Developmental Delay would be also lack of speech, cannot walk or crawl up or down stairs, can’t feed herself, can’t change herself, etc. Some of the Autism and Developmental Delays overlap so it’s a bit foggy – not all Autistic kids will have Developmental Delays.

Sometimes kids will hit all the milestones and then ‘forget’ them – this is called ‘regression’. If the regression is severe, then I think it’s more of a developmental delay than Autism.

With Jovie, there was a regression because she was doing things like holding that apple and feeding herself, but now she doesn’t and can’t. We look out for this every single day because further regression is bad. (We’re practicing stairs ALOT these days because it’s like she’s forgetting again :/ She just doesn’t understand what to do next and locks up her body)

In my opinion, I believe Jovie was born with Autism and it just got to a point where it was taking over.

Oi. I can go on about it – feel free to ask more questions and ask your friend to email me if she wants to chat privately via email.

xx