On February 10, 2014 our little world changed forever when Nolan Grant Harrell was born. He was our first child, the first grandchild on my side of the family and the first grandson on Hunter's side. He was just a typical baby who at first cried a lot until we figured out he didn't like regular formula! A few soy milk bottles later and he was the sweetest little baby who's dimples got him everything he wanted! He hit all of his milestones crawling at 8 months old and started sleeping through the night in his own crib at 9 months old. He slept pretty good and other than the typical baby stuff there was nothing out of the ordinary. Just when we thought we were getting the hang of this parenting thing we found out we were expecting again! It was a girl and she and Nolan would be 16 months apart! While it was stressful and is still chaos a lot of the time we never realized at that moment what a blessing it would be having them so close together!

 

Many people ask me when we first knew Nolan had autism. I think you never really know but you have instincts. Shortly after Nolan's first birthday when most children started to walk on their own, Nolan wasn't even interested. We thought "all kids do things at their own pace," which is so true! We told ourselves that a lot though at first until we started getting those gut feelings that maybe something wasn't right. He was jabbering some at 12 months old and would make noises like "mamamama" and "uhoh" and "dadadadadad" but not very often. Around 14 or 16 months old he still wasn't walking and we didn't notice him jabbering as much. Of course, everybody said, "He's a boy. They do things later than girls. Don't worry about it he will do things when he is ready." When he was 16 months old on June 23, 2015, Harper was born and there were so much adjustment and newness going on in our world we didn't worry a lot about the things Nolan wasn't doing. 

 

When Nolan was 18 months old we started to get more concerned about his development.  He wasn't talking anymore although he did start to walk. He didn't interact as much as other kids his age either. He was always on the go and loved spinning in circles. He played with cars and trucks like other kids his age, but he loved to spin the wheels instead of using it as a car. Our pediatrician suggested autism at his 18 month check up but I wouldn't hear of it. She told me some things to watch and said we would reevaluate at his 2-year-old appointment. That was the first seed that was planted in the back of my mind.

 

I knew of another kid a little older than him in our town who seemed a lot like Nolan. Hunter and I talked about the possibility of autism but neither one of us wanted to admit it could actually be an option. Nolan had a lot of ear infections and I remember we took him to an ENT who removed his adenoids and put tubes in his ears. He told us the fluid in Nolan's ears was as thick as peanut butter and that is probably why he didn't interact very well or talk. He said we should see a difference almost immediately, but we didn't. At this point, I text the mother of the child who was very similar to Nolan because he had recently been diagnosed with autism. I will never forget sitting on the living room floor holding Harper, who was only a few months old, texting this mom all of our concerns and telling her all about Nolan. I hit the send button and waited thinking surely she will tell me I'm being overprotective and worrying too much! Instead, I read her reply that said, "It breaks my heart to tell you this but that is exactly like my son." I just started to cry and so did Hunter. All those gut instincts I suddenly knew was right. She was amazing though and so supportive and guided us through the first steps of the whole process. We weren't 100% sure that is what Nolan had but we sure knew we were going to take the steps to find out. 

 

So many people played key roles in guiding us and encouraging us to find out what was going on with our little boy. We figured best case scenario we do all this testing and work and find out he is just stubborn; turns out it was both! Ha! We started at Early Intervention who got us started with speech therapy while at daycare. We then got on the waiting list for an evaluation at the UMMC CAY (Children, Adolescent, and Youth) Clinic in Jackson. At our evaluation at the CAY Clinic, which was a few days after Nolan turned 2, we found out what we had thought for a while - autism. They said he was too young for an official, specific diagnosis but he had many traits. With this on an official piece of paper, we were set to start getting the therapy he needed. I hear many stories of parents crying and losing it when they get the official diagnosis. Hunter and I already knew at that point so, while it rocked out world, it was almost a relief to finally know what we had thought all along. 

 

So here we are years later. Our family has learned so much since that day right after his 2nd birthday. It has been a rollercoaster to say the least but God has carried us through it all. Nolan is happy, healthy, and has changed our world. His sister, Harper, is his biggest cheerleader too! Our life may look different but I am here to show others that different isn't scary. It isn't something to be feared. With the right attitude and lots of determination you can find so much joy in the different.