Happily Ever After

97: Diagnosis

2039

Maya (50), Carina (54), Sarah (30), Lucia (23)

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Matteo Andrea Bishop-DeLuca was perfect. 

His parents thought so, his grandparents insisted so, his sister was so-so on it, his aunts and uncles exclaimed so and his cousins marvelled at Matteo's beautiful red curls, freckles smattering across the toddler's face and his adorable, button nose. 

The redhead was giggly, sweet, loving and a generally easy going baby; Matteo rarely cried, slept through the night at an early age, and was a smiling sweetheart.

He was everything that the Bishop-DeLuca family needed. 

Almost effortlessly, Matteo had his famiglia wrapped around his little finger. He adored his nonna, gram and had an obsession with his big sister; always trying to crawl after her, constantly wanting to be where she was...

The little redhead was a charmer. As an infant, he was fascinated by all the visitors he got, giving them gummy smiles and wanting to be held. He babbled and cooed along with whoever was talking, which of course gave his parents the impression that some day, Matteo would be chatting their ears off. 

It was an exciting and thrilling concept, one that Sarah and Alex looked forward to as their little peach grew up.

Alex was the first to start to notice that there might be something more to their son than initially realized. There was nothing wrong with their peach, but there were patterns to Matteo's behaviours, ones that he couldn't deny. 

When Matteo got excited, he flapped his hands. He didn't like bright lights or loud noises. He was a picky eater. As he grew up, he struggled more and more with meeting and interacting with new people. He didn't speak, but instead hummed and cooed.

Given that he was in the milestone stage where any day now, Matteo should start to speak, Alex began to dissect his son's behaviours. Alex knew that every child was different, and that parenting was never a linear, traceable function. However, Grace did not seem to have the same struggles that her brother did. Again, he knew that Grace and Matteo were two different people, but having some sort of baseline assessment gave the father pause.

Being a stay at home dad, Alex had more time on his hands than his wife did. While Sarah was at work, Alex looked after the kids. After Matteo was born, he took some time off of writing, and adjusted his work schedule so that he could juggle both.

Maybe he was looking too much into it, but now that he had noticed, Alex couldn't unsee what he saw. The little quirks that Matteo did, once considered normal, were now a possible indicator for something the two parents were missing. Alex huffed, running his hands through his hair. He felt like they were failing - that somehow, not noticing this sooner meant he was a bad parent.

Feeling as if he was spiralling, Alex consulted Nate and Elijah, two of his best friends who he would trust with anything. He explained what he had noticed in Matteo's behaviour, and their advice was to do research. 

If Alex suspected something, it would do him no good to sit and let his anxiety take control of the situation. So, in the free time that he had, Alex poured over articles, essays and research.

Everything that he found led him to the same place; autism spectrum disorder, otherwise known as ASD. Not knowing enough about autism, Alex began conducting his own research. 

He found that according to the centre for disease control, autism is a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain. People with ASD often have problems with social communication and interaction, and restricted or repetitive behaviours or interests. People with ASD may also have different ways of learning, moving, or paying attention.