Meet Zach!

 

 Zach is our six year old son which to look at him you would have no idea that anything could be wrong with him.  He often wins people over almost immediately with his loving charm. 

This past year has not been a whole lot different for Zachary.  Rob and I searching and trying to find the best doctors and therapist that can help us understand, "Why Zach is Zach?" Many of you probably remember, as do we the day in which he was born which quickly became known as the "Zack Attack." Mainly, because he arrived so FAST. Zach was a precious, happy, and very content baby. At the age of 2 we started to become concerned with Zach's lack of language skills. We sought numerous opinions, attended tons of therapy, and enrolled Zachary in a special pre-school program taught by a speech and language pathologist. But, there was still something going on with Zach, that no one was able to diagnosis or explain. Upon moving to Georgia, we enrolled Zach in a special Kindergarten for children with varying degrees of developmental delays. Not long after school began we were again perplexed at some of the challenges that Zach was encountering on a daily basis. We recently received a diagnosis in which Zach is suffering from a severe language disorder. Most of you like us will not have heard of it: Semantic Pragmatic Disorder. This is the language disorder that exists within Autism, but can exist outside of the typical Autistic Spectrum. The prognosis for this disorder is very promising, but still leaves lots of hard work and therapy. Zach is such a sweet and loving boy. Like other little boys his age he loves to play, particularly with animals. He is quite an animal expert. He loves his family dearly, but especially his "Mommy". He strives so hard to please us, but his daily struggles with communication leave our days far from normal. So many of you know that not a minute goes by of my day that I am not thinking, praying, or worrying about this boy. My heart truly aches just for answers. Thus my journey begins...

My hope is that you will be touched by our story, and want other children suffering from Autistic Spectrum Disorders to someday have answers.  By supporting the Organization for Autism Research, you will be helping kids like Zach.  Giving has played such a huge role in my life, but it somehow feels very different when you are the one faced with a "need". A need for answers, "Why is this affecting so many children, and most importantly why our Zach?"

The future for Zach is very unpredictable right now. But what we do know is that he is very bright and has an incredible Zest for life.  This year he will be entering Kindergarten, and we pray for the best!

Thank you for reading and considering this awesome opportunity to make a difference in the life of a child.