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Dominic was diagnosed with Autism and Global Developmental Delay in 2011. From there we were able to get the support from AutismSA, and they helped with his speech and OT. He was starting to talk more and a lot clearer. In January 2012 I was able to enrol him in the local primary school. We started him with small transitions of school and after a month he was able to handle going all day to school. But in those first few weeks he would be by himself, and wouldn’t interact or join in with the other children. But after seeing the kids having fun and learning, he slowly joined in.

I found an Autism group on Facebook called “Asperlutely Autsome”. They were all so very lovely and supportive. We registered with Asperlutely Autsome, and found some more wonderful families to talk to. With the help from the wonderful families from Asperlutely Autsome Dominic got to go on his first retreat, it was a quiet retreat which was good because he could just relax and meet other families and children. He had a blast, and kept saying he wanted to stay at the retreat for ever.

In 2012 we heard about City Bay fun run, and signed up for the 12km walk, I was really proud of Dominic because he walked the whole 12km without complaining. It was good seeing all the other charity groups walking/running for charity. We were also spreading awareness about Autism. We had so much fun walking the City Bay fun run that we registered again in 2013 and 2014 and we were walking for Asperlutely Autsome. We also competed in the Bay City Fun run 2015 in reverse, it was quite different walking backwards, but we had fun.

Last year Dominic was lucky enough to get a tour of the Adelaide train station, and the control room. He got to talk to the control room workers, and see what happens on the computers. He really enjoyed that day, he got to ride up front on the seaford train with an awesome train driver. And he loved sounding the horn.

Dominic was in year 3 at school in 2015 but due to being constantly bullied we decided it would be best to home-school. School doesn’t work for every child and this was the best option available. He has become more relaxed and stress-free, even a lot happier. He has improved so much, his speech is a lot better, he is saying a lot more words, and he is writing and reading very well. He loves travelling around the city finding different things to learn. He loves reading and using the computer. It is thanks to all the support he has been given from everyone to help his progress.
This year Dominic turned 10 he did make quite a few friends while he was at school, he’s always had a birthday party with his friends from school, and he was looking forward to his 10th birthday party with his friends, we were going to have it at the park, but some couldn’t make it, and then Dominic asked if he could have it at the playcafe. So we booked the playcafe, and sent out group invites. They all were saying no we’re busy sorry. We had to cancel the booking because only one person would have gone. Dominic was so disappointed and kept telling me to get the parents to say yes to the party. We’ve tried for 3 years to have catchups/playdates with his friends but they always cancel. For his 10th birthday we just went out with family out for dinner.

Dominic is a very happy boy, and loves trains especially the jumbo trains, Adelaide trains and the Melbourne ones. He would love to go back to Melbourne on the overland train.

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Posted by caramello, 6th July 2016