Paranoia is unbecoming

Here's a recent picture of Tyler.  He's about ten months old now and into everything.  He wants to walk so badly he is pulling up and grabbing my hands to pull up and walk.  Today, he was not well.  He coughed to the point of vomiting and was generally very cranky. He also did not respond to his name and would not look me in the eye.


As a parent with a child who has autism, you become a virtual screener of autism with every kid you meet.  I've looked at maybe fifty kids since Alanna was diagnosed and they are all fine.  I can't help it - I even test them using play so their parents don't freak out.  Tyler scared us today.  We look at him and when he doesn't respond to his name, it brings all of the terror back we experienced with Alanna.  Now, he does a lot of things Alanna never did.  I try to tell myself he is fine, but we watch him like a hawk.  I think we are paranoid, but we just can't help ourselves.  He has a 90% chance of being normal, but that's still pretty bad odds vs. the general population.  Please God, let him be autism-free.