About 3 years ago, my second daughter got diagnosed with Pervasive Development Disorder-Not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) and my journey of having an official diagnosis began. As anyone with a child or children on the spectrum can tell you the journey of living with the disorder neither begins or ends with this diagnosis. Even with two more of my daughters officially on the spectrum since that first diagnosis, I am still trying to figure out the advantages of having them labelled as such. I do appreciate being able to turn away those weird looks with the short explanation that my child has autism but since they are all high functioning, I can't help wondering if that explanation is enough for most people.
At any rate, I have been dealing with high need, high functioning children for almost twelve years now. My oldest daughter, Brittany, is turning twelve soon and has Asperger's and ADHD. Mary, my second, is 10 and has classic high functioning autism and Katherine is seven and has just recently been diagnosed with PDD-NOS. My youngest, Janet, is about to turn 5 and is as neuro-typical as you can get (thank heaven!).
I have started this blog really for my own sanity. I needed a place to write down the trials and triumphs of my life raising these wonderfully challenging children. I figured that if I did a blog then perhaps I might find some kindred spirits out there that could share in my journey.
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