51 Crayons

A few days ago - in fact, the day before we got the official ASD diagnosis - my sister came to spend the evening with Nyx and I.  Nyx loves her Auntie K, they read books together and sing "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes", and have lots of cuddles. 

So this visit, Nyx wanted to colour. I explained to my sister that we are working on getting kiddo to take turns, so she learns to wait instead of just grabbing what she wants. They coloured for close to an hour, and after each crayon was selected and used, Nyx lined them up very neatly on the table. 51 crayons.

I know that some ASD kids have these little quirky habits, but this really astounded me. First, that she had the attention span to do one activity for such a long time, and second, that she was so focused and intent on arranging the crayons just so after she finished with them. Astounding. 

Obligatory Intro Post

I've named this blog Keys and ABCs - Autism 101. Sounds a bit prententious, a bit arrogant, even a bit flippant. Quite the opposite. 

Our family is starting out with an ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) for our youngest daughter, currently 20 months old. We call her Nyx, which is a German word that means "sprite" or "fairy." She is magical. And she has this disorder, this atypical neurological condition that makes her magical self a challenge to reach. Like a good fairytale, we need to find the keys to Nyx.

We're at the very earliest stage: our ABCs - Autism 101. There is a whole language, culture, world of ASD resources and information. It's overwhelming and confusing. It also gives a great deal of hope, because there IS so much, and more and better information all the time. 

I have started this blog as a way of documenting our challenges and successes as they come, both for our own reference and hopefully to be of help to other families.

In truth, I've also started it because trying to answer the same questions over and over from caring friends and community can get a bit wearing. I love that folks are concerned and interested, but it's very difficult to explain what we don't quite understand ourselves. Here I will try to make things more cogent. 

Thanks for dropping by.