Austin (Age 9)
Austin’s story starts back when he was born. There were complications with his birth; he was born a month early. He was in the NICU for 4 days after he was born due to breathing issues and his lungs being underdeveloped. After those 4 days we were released from the NICU. We were home for about a week and his health started to decline. There was a voice in my head telling me to take him into the Emergency Room. Looking back, I know that was God telling me to take Austin in. We got to Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital and right away they knew something wasn’t right. They immediately took him back and started him on IV’s and ran multiple tests to find out what was wrong. That night a nurse told me, “If you would have waited to take him in until the morning, he would have been dead.”
After a few days in the PICU at Helen DeVos we found out, he was in septic shock, he was having seizures from bleeding on his brain, had a blood clot in his leg, had rhino enterovirus, and his heart, kidney, and lungs were all working at less than 50%. The doctors told us he would be in the PICU for a month if everything went smoothly. He was home in 3 ½ weeks! Praise the Lord! Austin is a living, breathing, and walking miracle!
Once he was home early on followed him because he was behind developmentally. When he turned 3, we enrolled him in school in the ECSE to help him “catch up” with kids his age. No one had ever brought-up Autism at this point in his life. When he was in Kindergarten, he was having a lot of “behavioral issues” in school. He was growling and hissing at kids and teachers, hiding under his desk, covering his ears, chewing on his shirts, and much more. As a mom I didn’t know what to do. So, we got him into behavioral therapy, from there his therapist had started to talk to us about Autism. We were scared and didn’t know anything about it, but decided to get him tested so we could better understand Austin. In October of 2024 we got the official diagnosis. It helped us understand him so much better.
Austin is a kid who loves everyone! He is so kind, has so much empathy for people, always wants to help, and he also has learned to persevere through so many hard things! He can talk, but also has moments where he responds as if he is an animal. He has sensory processing disorder, and audio processing disorder. You cannot see these things but it affects him in major ways. He wears noise canceling earbuds, and constantly chews on a Lego chewy. These are a few things that help Austin focus, and process throughout his days. He goes to behavioral therapy and occupational therapy every week. Austin struggles with impulse control, he can get so mad and frustrated with the flip of switch. When this happens, he usually will scream, yell, throw things, hit things, and sometimes us. In those meltdowns we have to realize this isn’t who Austin is as a person, his brain is overstimulated and trying to process. This is a hard part of Autism that people don’t see.
Austin has taught our family to slow down, to find the joy in the little moments, to celebrate little milestones. I truly believe God created Autistic people to help the world see people through a different lens. It has taught our family to be more patient, understanding, and trust God through this process.
