My Caden

Caden is a very handsome 7 year old boy who seems normal on the outside. He is incredibly smart, and loves to play outside. He, however isn't "normal." (Not sure what normal really is.) This is the way God created him.

As an infant, Caden cried constantly. It was very hard on Scotty and I especially because I became pregnant when Caden was three months old and I was sick in the beginning and on bedrest at the end. We called it "colic."

He began banging his head on the floor at about a year old and crawling under tables and doing some other strange behaviors. He pulled at his clothes and screamed at bright lights and loud sounds. His behaviors were very puzzling to me.

Caden got a diagnosis of Sensory Processing Disorder at around two. At around four, he was diagnosed with Aspergers. This has been so difficult for me. I love my child and want the best for him, but I have had such a hard time with school and social situations with him. Alot of other children don't like him because he can be "annoying." He tugs at his shirts and stretches them all out. He yells, moans, and screams a whole lot. He doesn't really have a sense for danger or listens well. He has run away from me several times and it can get really scary. He has had therapy in the past, but we stopped because insurance quit covering it and it is so expensive. Getting Caden to take a bath or get dressed is an ordeal. He throws himself on the floor alot. He cannot be trusted to walk beside me in the grocery store, but he is super intelligent. Aspergers is so hard to understand, especially to those who don't know anything about it. He covers his ears and grinds his teeth when he is upset. (He now has vampire teeth.)

I have had a very hard time with Caden this summer being at home with little schedule. It is hard. It stresses Scotty and I both out. I want the best for my baby. I love him so much. Even though I know he is a little "different", I still get mad at his behaviors sometimes. I am trying to work on it. It is hard to deal with a child that hears but doesn't always listen. I love him, and this is the way God made him. I wouldn't want to change him, but I sometimes wish that there were a cure. He is trapped and it is frustrating for him.

I don't talk much about his issues, but want people to be aware of them. I had a lady tell me a few months back at the ballpark she hoped her son didn't grow up to be like Caden. I know she wasn't thinking when she said it, but it really hurt me because she has NO idea what I have been through the last seven years...