If you are reading this from Pinterest, the challenge instructions are kind of midway through this post. Thanks for stopping by! :)

One year ago, Zachary was diagnosed with autism, and our lives changed forever. Over the last year, we have run the gamut of emotions; from fear to relief, from despair to hope, from bitterness to thankfulness, and back again. It is a roller coaster ride for sure, but at least I can say it has not been boring! :)

I started to feel in my heart that something wasn't right around the time that Zachary reached 18 months. He was not using any words regularly, and had violent tantrums over small things like diaper changes, or sitting in a high chair. He would occasionally "zone out" and not recognize when someone was saying his name or talking to him. He would not sit and look at a picture book, or point at any pictures on the pages. When he did take notice of the book, he would point to the page numbers rather than the big pretty pictures. He was not waving bye-bye, and he didn't seem to understand a large portion of what we were saying to him. And finally, when other toddlers were seeking out interaction with others (peers and adults), Zachary was more content to wander off and explore. Any of these things, alone, could be blown off as quirky or just his unique personality, but there came a time when I began to realize that Zachary was not developing at the same rate as his peers.

Though my family and friends assured me that he would "grow out" of these quirks, I became more and more alarmed and worried. There was one incident when I was talking to a friend who I hadn't seen for some months. When they asked me what Zachary was doing that was new, I had to admit that there was nothing. He seemed to be stuck, in a funk. He wasn't doing anything new. By his second birthday, Zachary had given up the very few words he had been using sporadically, and began making grunting or "humming" sounds with his mouth closed. He wouldn't say any words at all. At about 22 months, we started the process of having him evaluated for speech therapy. That therapist referred us then to a physical therapist and an occupational therapist. To keep this email from becoming a novel, I won't go into all the details. But we finally had to accept that this was more than a simple speech delay, and we ended up with a diagnosis of autism from a pediatric psychologist. It was the word that I had been hearing whispered in the back of my mind for the past year, though I would not say it aloud. But, it was a place to start.

Now, Zachary is receiving 8 hours of therapy each week. We have seen some huge break throughs in the time since he started! After a full YEAR of Zachary vocalizing ONLY with his mouth closed, he finally began to open his mouth and speak in September of 2011. Today he has many words and phrases that he uses, though we do not understand all of them, and we sometimes still have to remind him to open his mouth when he is speaking. We are so thankful for the progress that we have seen in Zachary, but we still have a long way to go. Even though he has some language now, Zachary still has great difficulty communicating many things, and this is frustrating and painful, not only to him, but to me as well. He also has many sensory issues (extreme sensitivity to certain stimuli like sound and touch) which interfere with daily life at times. Finally, Zachary is still learning how to interact appropriately with his peers and others. This is where you come in! :)

I recently heard about a website called "The Puzzling Piece," that sells Autism awareness jewelry and other merchandise. They are helping kids with autism by putting an ipad in their hands! Studies are showing that children with autism can benefit tremendously from using an ipad, to help them communicate, learn, and grow. The apple community is putting out more and more apps that assist autistic people. We would love to get one of these for Zachary, and this website makes in possible, but we need your help!! Here's what you do:

A) Just go to http://www.thepuzzlingpiece.com.

B) Once you are there, click on "products" at the top of the page.

C) From there, click the tab that says "ipad challenge pieces". These are the onlyitems that count towards the ipad challenge.

D) If you make a purchase, be sure to write Zachary Patience in the space that says "challenger". First and last names, please!

If I can sell 60 pieces, (they are mostly jewelry, but there is also a keychain and a cork screw), Zachary gets an ipad for FREE!

Your purchase from the Puzzling Piece's ipad challenge does three things:

1) It goes towards a brand new ipad to help Zachary communicate and learn

2) A portion of each sale goes toward an Autism charity

3) When you buy and wear these pieces, it creates Autism awareness in our community.

Besides all that, you get a nice looking piece of jewelry! It's a win-win situation! :)

Autism is far more common that most people realize. Did you know that 1 in every 110 children in the US will be diagnosed with autism? For boys, the statistic is 1 in 70!! At present, no one knows what causes autism, and there is no cure.

The Puzzling Piece won't tell me who has purchased and who has not, so you can remain anonymous if you wish, and if you choose to buy more than one piece, that's awesome too -each piece counts!! I understand that not everyone has the money to spend on jewelry, but if you are able to help us out, we would be truly grateful!

In response to my email, I've had several questions come back to me, so let me answer those for everyone.

1) There is no deadline. The challenge is open-ended so that we can take as much time as we need to reach our goal!

2) The Puzzling Piece will be sending me weekly email updates to let me know how many pieces have been sold, so we know how many more need to be sold to reach our goal.

3) Some of the pieces available offer you a choice of which Autism-related charity you would like your donation to go to. I don't have any preference on which charity you pick. Whichever one sounds good to you is great!