By Eleanor Kazdan, October 10, 2019 — We were overjoyed when our grandson, Aron was born 5 years ago. My daughter, Julia, had struggled through 3 miscarriages with all the agony and devastation, and here, finally was this gorgeous little baby boy.
I must confess that I was hoping she would have a girl, the reason being that her husband’s family had a history of severe autism, and I had read that boys are 4 times as likely to be on the autistic spectrum.
All seemed fine. But when Aron was 2, his daycare teacher voiced concerns. Aron didn’t play with other children and did not readily respond to his name or questions. He also had some obsessive behaviors such as picking up every piece of trash in sight and throwing it in a garbage can.
Testing showed that Aron was madly autistic.
A diagnosis is a mixed blessing. At age 5, Aron has friends, responds to questions, has good eye contact and is funny and delightful. The obsessive behaviors have faded. He is a handful, though. He has occasional tantrums and difficulty transitioning from one activity to another due to autistic or normal 5-year old behavior.
Well, I know for sure that he is a delightful little boy. Last week, after reading him a bedtime story, we talked about his 5th birthday party that day, and about other people’s ages. “Is a 6-year-old still a child, Grandma? How about a 13-year-old? Will I live to 100?”
I answered as best I could. A thoughtful silence followed. “I have a dream, Grandma, I’m going to live for a hundred million years!”