Just a little about my family and Lachlan's journey so far..

My name is Jade and I'm married to Rick and we have 2 amazing little boys, Lachlan and Zachary.

I was a young naieve mum at 23. I never knew the journey I would have ahead raising 2 boys 19 months apart. Life has been hectic and shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon.

Lachlan is my eldest at 3, he is my little outdoors adventurer and loves to climb.
Zachary almost 2, is quite outgoing and very cheeky. They are both completely different in almost everything which I love.

Life has sent us on an up and down hill journey, but that is just life. Life will always be unpredictable.

Here is just a little about Lachlan's journey so far.
Lachlan my eldest has had a recent diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder, or as most people know it as ASD.
I had always known my little boy was 'different' in some ways to his peers. I had a feeling since he was about 15 months old. I saw signs then but at the time was unware of the 'red flag signs'.
Developmentally he reached all the milestones required in the first 12 months, including limited speech. It was around 13 months that he began to show an aversion to many foods, I was then told it would just be a phase. Around 15 months I noticed another a change, in which he began to speak less and less of the few words he could already say. It was then I decided to enrol him into daycare thinking he needed that social interaction. Lachlan's GP at the time had again ensured me his speech and hearing were ok for his age group.
After some time I began to really become concerned with the amount of hearing infections he had, they seemed to be too frequent. We worked it out to be 17 in total until the age of 34 months. After seeing and Ears, Nose and Throat specialist we soon learnt Lachlan had a 'glue ear' along with narrow Eustachian Tubes. He required day surgery where he had a grommet inserted into each ear. Since then his hearing is now just below the normal category, which is really great.
After 6 months of the grommets we had noticed no improvement in his speech, so I then sourced out a Speech Therapist for an assessment. He was diagnosed with Mixed Receptive Expressive Language Disorder or MRELD. Lachlan began speech therapy in November 2011, and with no improvement by February 2012 I stopped the therapy sessions.
The daycare Lachlan attends had some concerns, they came to me in early February 2012 and wrote up a report on his behaviour. It was then I realised again his 'differences' were clearly something else. I then made an appointment for Lachlan to see a psychologist whom was qualified in doing a developmental assessment. In late March 2012 we received the psycholgist's diagnosis of ASD and MRELD.
Then in early May 2012 Lachlan saw a Paediatrician. It was then confirmed the ASD diagnosis.
Rick and I have since helped Lachlan come a long way because we now have a better understanding of him. I have had to change many things including my parenting techniques and so on. I am now starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
As for therapies Lachlan is now attending part time at a daycare type setting that has an early intervention program. He also sees a Speech Therapist fortnightly and about to begin with an Occupational Therapist, which he only recently has been assessed with.
In the short amount of time since his diagnosis the changes in Lachlan that I have seen are phenominal. I am most proud of his effort with his speech, the speech has improved so much. I also work with him at home on the speech for as long as he will let me, which is maybe only about 20 minutes a day, but it's better than nothing.
Lachlan still has a long road ahead of him, but for the time being his small accomplishments are enough, or as the saying goes 'baby steps'.
I will keep you all updated on Lachlan's progress.

Just like to add that I'm a very proud mum to both of my boys. They are my everything and I wouldn't change them for anything.