There are plenty of good online resources about the basics of autism, but where does Blake fall on the spectrum?

At nearly 7 years of age, Blake should have already developed a large portion of his adult vocabulary, should be well established at building relationships with other people, including peers. He should be engaging in elaborate imaginative play and exploring his world.

Blake is not yet speaking in sentences. He does understand more than he can say, but it is still not possible for him to grasp enough spoken language to follow multi-step commands or do other things that kids his age can often do.

Blake does not "look" developmentally delayed, so often, when we are in public, people make assumptions about the sources of his behavior that are incorrect. This has led to complete strangers in public yelling at him for being upset because they think he is "old enough to know better." I find the stress of the reactions of other adults in public places to be as challengingl as Blake's meltdowns.

Another hallmark of autism is the inability or delay in developing attachments to people. People with autism relate differently to their world than neurotypical people do. I do my best to support Blake forming relationships with the people in my life on his own terms. He has lots of people he enjoys interacting with and gets plenty of opportunities to do that with adults. It's a challenge to find kids his age to play with, but that is something we will continue to try to develop..