Chapter One THE DAY MY LIFE CHANGED DIRECTION After my third child was born he never made a sound; the nurses and the other moms on the ward commented how good he was to sleep the whole night through. I just thought I’d been given reprieve, due to my first child being still born and my second coming out and continued for much of his life screaming and crying, whereas Charles always had to be woken up for feeds. It was when he was approaching his third birthday that I became concerned about him. His - speech or in his case, - lack of it was definitely beyond most three-year-olds. He would use grunting sounds to get my attention, or use words like “ju, ju” for juice while thrusting his cup in my hand, or “bye” whether you were coming or going, but that was about it. He was a ‘late walker’ but once started he began racing from room to room; from toy to toy; and making loud excitable noises whilst removing any clothes I had just put on him. The baby clinic I took him t