Caleb’s Walk for Autism Inclusion

From the day Caleb was born, he went at his own pace. Ten days after his due date, he was ready to enter the world, fast and furiously. We took a quick four hour trip to the hospital and returned home before his big brother Charlie knew we were gone.

At his 18 month wellness appointment with our family doctor, he was flagged in the questionnaire for not meeting speech milestones. Our doctor gave us an online survey to complete, in which Caleb ranked high risk for having Autism.

Caleb eventually started Speech and Language Pathology and Occupational Therapy at KidsAbility, as well as underwent surgery for ear tubes, all while waiting on the list for an Autism assessment with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA).

Caleb was assessed for Autism through a thorough process in which the team at CMHA was amazing. On August 21st, 2024 Caleb was officially diagnosed with level 2 Autism.

Since then, we have had a massive team of health professionals and resources that have helped us with an overwhelming amount of tasks, applications, planning and advocating for Caleb. We truly understand the importance of community in this journey and feel so fortunate to be able to lean on ours in our new reality of being a neurodiverse family.

Autism Ontario’s mission, vision and values is what we strive for for our son Caleb, and all individuals with Autism and their loved ones.