It All Began...The Budd Family's Autism Journey - Part 1

I was born the youngest of 6 children. At about the age of 4, my parents took on the responsibility of raising one of the daughters of a close friend. We were the same age. One more was never a problem to my mother (can't say the same for dear old Dad) and that made us a family of 7 children. As far back as I can remember, babies and children brought a smile to my face. There was always time in my schedule to stop and smile, wave or wink at any baby that came my way. They always seemed to respond back with a generous smile (this is a key point to our story). As my older siblings began to marry and have children, they were always at our family home. It was a delight to take them out and we all just loved them. Early on in my Christian journey, I became a Sunday School teacher and Children's Church worker. Needless to say, I was constantly around children. As most girls do, I hoped to get married and have several children. So, by the time the wedding bells rang, I was already past 30 and was happy to start a family pronto. We had our first wonderful baby boy in 2002. Noah was born a month after we celebrated our 1st anniversary! We couldn't be happier. I handed in my resignation, trained my replacement and left for motherhood with a big smile. Noah was healthy and happy! He met all of his milestones on or before the given range. Life was good! Soon after - 5 months to be exact, we discovered that baby #2 was on the way. Could life get any better? Not for me! We both wanted another boy and God blessed us again with a beautiful baby boy. The pregnancy was typical. I felt great except for being tired due to having care for a busy toddler. After the birth of our 2nd son Jeremy, life changed...