Moving on with the Dirt

 Matthew really enjoyed his early education program. He was getting to know kids his own age, where he was used to only having his big sister and brother and the adults in his life. In the beginning, he loved riding the bus. I was a huge mess about him riding the bus in the beginning. The first day he rode the bus, I called my sister as I followed it, sobbing, to make sure he got there okay. I was so worried something was going to happen to my baby. We had so much fun at Valentine's Day with his cute little valentines. There were only six kids in his class, and I always wanted to be one of those mothers who made their kids' valentines. So in February of 2016, I had the opportunity to do so. I bought those toy cars that come in packages at holiday seasons, rolled their tires in some stamping ink, printed out the saying on cardstock, and made what I thought were the cutest little cards. I attached some candy to them, and he had a fun Valentine's Day! The nice thing about Matt...

 My name is Amanda. I'm the mom to three beautiful children. Bryan is 22, Tea is 18, and Matthew is 7. Believe it or not, Matthew was the only child who was planned. Yes, I'm a little older, 43 to be exact.  I'm a tired mom. Matthew was diagnosed with autism at the age of 3, and he can be a little over the top. Bryan was diagnosed with autism at the age of 21. How does it feel to be a mom with special needs kids? I'm sure you could ask many moms out there. I can only tell you my experiences. What I can tell you is, in this time in my life, I'm in denial again that Matthew has autism. He's doing so well. I actually have an appointment to get him reevaluated, maybe to see how far he's come? Maybe to see if he's ever really had it? When Matthew was 18 months old, he could barely speak. He had about 10 words in his vocabulary. I took him to his well-child check-up, and his pediatrician recommended getting him tested for autism. I refused, and his pediatricia...