When our quadruplets were born in January, 2004, we grew from a family of four to eight overnight.  The doctors told us how fortunate we were that they were all born healthy, and we were truly grateful.  They all progressed normally and hit all their developmental milestones until they were 18 months old.  It was at this point that Robert stopped speaking and started to isolate himself from his siblings. 

Although we tried to convince ourselves that he was just "the quiet one" it was obvious that he was falling behind his siblings.  We recieved the official diagnosis when Robert turned two, and he became the 1 out of 150 statistic that you never think will be one of your own.  After a weekend of crying, I began my research into what we could do to help our son and quickly learned that I needed to be a strong advocate in order for him to get the help that he needed.  He started therapy through the New York State Early Intervention Program two weeks later.

As his siblings' language progressed to complete sentences, I prayed for Robert to just say one word.  Fortunately his siblings would not allow him to play alone, and they would force him to interact with them to some degree.  As the therapists' visits became part of our daily lives Robert slowly began to join the others at the door when one of them arrived.  The quadruplets will start preschool in September in an integrated classroom.  Robert will attend 5 days a week, and his siblings will attend 2.  It is my dream that when they begin kindergarten in 2 years  the kids in his class will not be able to tell " which one of these kids is not like the others".

Pat and I will be attending the annual OAR conference on October 27th then I will be running the Marine Corps Marathon on the 28th as part of the OAR team.

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