Nora has been receiving therapy through the state for a few months now, and starting next week we are switching to a different, more intensive type of therapy. We think this will be really great for her, but it definitely will be more time intensive and change our schedule around. We're now going to work with an ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis) therapist if any of you would like to read up on that, and she will receive 8 hours of therapy a week. I hope that since we are getting her in therapy at a young age, she will make progress quickly!
I know many well-meaning people have assumed that we are exaggerating Nora's issues or believe that she will outgrow them, but please know that comments like that aren't really helpful. Autism is a disorder that she will never outgrow, although we hope that with therapy she is able to make improvements. As with most autistic children, she also has sensory processing issues and things that are easy for other toddlers are not easy for her. Any change to her routine, even something simple like a new different kind of sippy cup and certainly things like staying overnight in a new place, is extremely hard on her. If you would like to do more reading on early signs of autism, this is a pretty good link to check out. Autismspeaks.org is also a great place to do some reading.
Baby girl #3 is doing well and kicking away as I type. I'm 26 weeks along and have 90-someodd days left until my due date, so time is definitely going by quickly at this point. We are looking forward to meeting her, but we still have lots left to do!
Here are some recent pictures of Cara and Nora:
