BiographyWhen Amelia was born she was just like any other baby it wasn’t until she was about nine months we started to notice there was something not right. By this point her two older sisters had started talking, crawling, taking first steps, feeding themselves with a spoon etc. and Amelia was showing no interest in doing any of this.
As time went on her behaviour became worse and the delays became more and more evident especially where talking was concerned. There was also little sleep had by anyone!
We first took Amelia to the doctor when she was around 18 months and he told us that there was probably no reason to worry, some kids speech is delayed and their development but he would refer us anyway. Amelia then waited for six months to see a paediatrician who was convinced it was autism and referred us for a multi-disciplinary assessment.
Amelia went to the assessment when she was 2 and 2 months and was very unsettled for the entire day having to see six different specialists in the space of several hours. They then gave the diagnosis of ASD and global developmental delay with skill levels of a 9 month old and her levels have stayed there unfortunately. They also diagnosed an 80% loss of sight in her right eye and potential hearing problems.
Amelia has been to so many specialists, speech and language therapists, ENT, audiology it would be impossible to list them all! She is currently waiting on the refraction clinic to see her in relation to her eyesight and being put under anaesthetic to have her hearing tested, as we have tried every other available route with no success.
Amelia struggles with every day challenges and has to take melatonin to maintain 3-4 hours sleep. Every single normal activity we take for granted for our children is like climbing a mountain for Amelia and we have had differing levels of success with each task.
Amelia has some days where she is brilliant and other days that she lives beneath her blanket crying, unable to be calmed and unable to tell us what is wrong, but she is generally such a happy child for all the struggles she faces. You will never see Amelia without a blanket, they go everywhere with her no matter if it’s two steps across the room or going out.
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