Getting to know me .

Hi My name is Kourtney I am 14 and have a 3 year old brother Aiden who has autism. Aiden was born into my family as my Nephew. My sister Monica who is now 21 had him. My sister suffers from Bi-polar disorder and was unable to take care of Aiden. Aiden was placed in our house at birth on March 13th 2008, by the state. When he was 20 months old my parents adopted him. Through out his first 20 months Aiden was sick all the time, in and out of the Hospital and specialist offices. My mom knew there was something wrong with Aiden's development and tried to get some behavior issues addressed. When he was 25 months he was diagnosed with Autism. He was non verbal. My family all contributed to getting his needs addressed and learned everything we could to help him. The early step program also came into our home to help. By the time he was 30 months he had a few words. We were addressing his sensory issues and my mom even made him weighted lap pads http://calmingeffectslappads.com/. My dad made him a sensory wall and we got him a trampoline, peanut balls, puzzles etc. We now had everything in place to get Aiden started. I am here now to tell you a little bit about Aiden's day to day life and struggles we have as a family.