Stories of Hope

Young Parents: Its ok

We became parents at an early age but like most young parents we had no idea what we were doing but with the help of family we learned quickly. It wasn’t until Logan was about one and a half that we started noticing delays in his speech and some temper tantrums when certain things wouldn't line up the way he wanted them too, that we thought to ourselves that maybe we should talk about it with our doctor. When we took Logan to the doctor and we expressed our concern and the first thing that came out of the pediatrics mouth was "well we can't drug him he is too small but I can refer him to early intervention" as mad as I was about the 1st thing she said the second part wasn’t so bad at all. After I gave her a piece of my mind we were referred to Early Intervention and it has been a true blessing; because of this program we learned that Logan is Autistic. Logan isn’t verbal but he communicates with us by using sign language. He listens to us when we call him and understands when we tell him little everyday tasks like "put on your shoes". He is so smart especially with electronics, he learns by watching us do things, he is simply amazing and our biggest blessing. He has become more playful with us but is terrified of some people. We had no idea how strong we were until God tested us. Because of our little boy we found our way, I came to realize that I wanted to help other children develop so I decided to go back to school to become a Developmental Therapist. So the reason why I am sharing our story is so people can learn about Autism, ask as many questions as possible and so young parents like us can know that IT’S OK to hear the word Autistic, don’t be ashamed to say it, say it proud because after all every child is a gift from above. We love you Logan for always.

Zaida B.
Chicago, IL

Beginning

My son was diagnosed four days ago with autisim.... This is all so new to me... I am standing in mixed emotions ... But at the same time i am happy that we can now work towards helping him to communicate.. I know that this will be a long journey but i am ready to do it with him... The picture is our hands together.... We will do this together.....

Anonymous
Houston, TX

Making Mistakes: Shawn's story.

I was born near Rammstein, Germany in an Airforce Hospital 21 years ago. Since 18 months, my parents saw something was not "right" with me. Then by 3 years, I believe I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. I found out in sixth grade of Elementary School, thanks to my mother, when we made a day out of it. I realized then, that I was obviously different. Neurotypicals like to punish or ridicule me when I mess up. I once broke a beaker in Chemistry Class, and the other students made a big fuss over it. They laughed, they pointed, they were mean to me. On purpose too! I would never, ever treat them like that, so why do they treat me like that? I believe it is because I'm different, and made a mistake. I make a lot of mistakes almost daily now. I own up to them, mostly, now. People tell me that something I said or did wasn't appropriate. Like I was embarrassing them, or they didn't want anyone or anything to stand out near them. Why is this important? I don't see, or get, why it's such a big deal when I tell someone that they're fat or something. I mean, that's how it used to be though. Now, I try to not be offensive to women at all. But sometimes I fail, since I'm not the best at communicating at all anyway, even when I do try. Socialization makes me tired quickly, and I'm always tired. I run on reserves, I tend to get more mean and offensive as I get more tired. I've made mistakes mostly when tired or having taken in too much information. I just wish people would just....for the lack of a better word...accept what I say, and what I do. But that's impossible in this day and age. Uh, right. Wrapping it up. Yeah, being different is never easy. How I yearn for fitting in, even when knowing I cannot exist that way. So I mope about and stay on the internet too much. That is my story. Thank you all!

Shawn Gorton
Barre, VT

Everything is wroth fighting for.

About 2 years ago my son got diagnosed with ADHD, but I knew there was something else wrong with him and the school kept telling me no its just the ADHD. Well I went to another psychologist and they had diagnosed my son being slightly autistic.Now knowing my son has ADHD and being slightly autistic explains a lot of his characteristics that he was showing all makes sense now.

Anonymous
SoCal, CA

How music has helped me in my everso challenging life

As a girl with autism, I've gone through many, many challenges, from therapy, to communication, to coping in noisy places, to trying to get even my own parents to understand me. Today, I can function pretty close to a normal person, probably even better than people without my disorder, but it wasn't always like that. Back in elementary school, I was a lot slower. I had trouble doing things at normal pace, and had to be taken out of the room, multiple times. Classmates, teachers, family relatives, and even my own parents didn't quite believe that I could learn without any "special help." I wanted to prove to them, that I could do more.

I saw my opportunity during the beginning of fifth grade, when they were allowing us to pick an instrument to learn. I chose the cello, and joined the Orchestra. The first two year was really rough, since the teacher didn't know the cello, very well. I still kept at, and soon saw improvements on my own ability to learn, in general. I was put in the regular class in the sixth grade, and didn't need as much help. I was only taken out of the room once a day, just for math. Things became so much easier to understand, and I wasn't looked down upon quite as much.

In middle school, I got a wonderful orchestra teacher. She was enthusiastic, knew her instruments, and easy to talk to. I learned to love music, and my life became dedicated to music. I wanted to learn more. More about the cello, and music, in general. Soon, one instrument just wasn't enough. I self-taught myself the piano, and since I was so into it, it wasn't that hard. When I graduated, I joined the guitar class in my high school. I also gained the hobby of writing my own songs.

Today, I'm 16 years old, and a successful student. People don't think of me as stupid, anymore, and now, upon looking back on my memories, I don't think I could have ever gone this far, without music.

Jasmine Malone
Tucson, AZ

Starting Over With My Daughter

My Daughter has made it through high school and is not the same child I took to Children's memorial when she was only two.

My educational background was in special education ... LD/BD so I was unlike so many others ... prepared for this. I knew how to get exactly what she needed and today she has come a long way from the child who did not utter a word until she was five to the young adult who wants to be a nurse's assistant and help take care of sick people. I was prepared for her childhood and knew exactly how to navigate the bureaucracy of the special educational system. We made it ... she graduated and is ready to move forward.

But here is what I was NOT prepared for ...

I was NOT prepared for her strong sense of self-awareness and furthermore her own bad feelings about who she is.
I was NOT prepared to help her battle the feelings she has as a young adult of worthlessness because of her disability.
I was NOT prepared for society to treat he as though she was worthless in the workforce.
I was NOT prepared for a world of adults who are both IGNORANT and CRUEL.
I was NOT prepared to have to comfort her in her grief over losing a job because she was not "catching on quick enough".
I was NOT prepared to now learn how to help her STAND UP FOR HERSELF as an adult.
I was NOT prepared for her screaming that she does not even want to try anymore because "EVERYONE will treat me this way!!!"

I was NOT prepared for this ....

I am foolish and silly to think that just because there is soooo much more information and awareness than there was almost 20 years ago ... that the world would be ....

More Accepting
More Understanding
More Tolerant
More Open-minded
More Helpful

I feel like now I am back at SQUARE ONE

And heartbroken ALL OVER AGAIN for HER SAKE

Because I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR A WORLD LIKE THIS.

Maureen McDonald
Lake in the hills, IL

The heart of an Autistic child

After the loss of my spouse, and my son loss of dad, house and not getting all he did before, I now tell him we cannot get extra things like we did before. He has seen me many times helping the homeless, and I always make lessons for him in our daily living. And one day, we had only $ to get him a burger and soda and we did and then we stopped at a stop light and she saw a homeless man saying on a sigh I AM HUNGRY. And he said, "Sir come here, and I saw him in the back seat giving him his lunch and saying, " Mom, God will take care of us, and my dad in Heaven is now full" The pure mind of my son Chris even a teen with all his issues sometimes amazes me.

Anonymous
Tampa, FL

mohammad's eyes

It was like other days, we woke up and start our life.i was looking at my younger brother mohammad and thinking why when we call his name ...he never return?
Why when he watching commercials he dose not have any attention to things that happen around him?
It was the time that we understood he is not normal .we live in small city named kerman in Iran .After going to lots of doctors we realized Mohammad has Got Autism and the only way for him to gets better is going to capital ...to Tehran.
Because of my father job we had to stay in kerman i mean me and my father,but mohammad and marjan(my mom) went to capital to start Treatment.
It was really difficult for all of us.we were alone here and my mom and brother lived there...
In fact the most difficulty was and is for Marjan ...she was alone in city that all people around were strange in addition she was living with Autism's problem.
In kerman i had to study my lessons and doing Home.my father gets depress and he was crying all day and night. Now 5 years past and he has got 7 years old, he get better But we have still lots of problem .
Mohamad can not speak.
He should where diaper .
He can not even understand what is able to eat what is not Or what is hot what is cold.he eat any thing that he see & tough any thing that he can.
But the only thing we belief in, Is that Mohammd is An angel.
He is love ,
He is everything,
He is the only reason to stay alive ,
He is our life .

Shamim Parvaresh
Kerman, Iran, Islamic Republic of

NaRay

When I lost my mom to a brain aneurism I was 9 months pregnant with my first born child NaRay. After I gave birth I was so happy to have finally met my lil boy who was kicking my butt..LOL. time was passing so fast I didn't even realize my boy was almost turning 1years old... I did notice at 9 months he wasn't babbling as much or giving me direct eye contact.... I spoke with his pediatrician who suggested I get an evaluation done. Of course after several evaluations he was diagnosed with (ppd). I wasn't aware of any kind of Autism, never researched it or anything. I automatically started his therapies but also researched and got the history about his diagnosis and what can I do to help. My son is now 7 years old, very intelligent, has won awards,certificates and plaques for his accomplishments... he's great with computers and loves building cars out of Plastic.. he's now holding
conversations with me and his little Sister ...Although his dad walked away once he
learned that NaRay was autistic it didn't affect him... NaRay to date is a green belt in karate and my inspiration. I wouldn't trade him for the "normal" kid...

Debbie
Jamaica, NY

Andrew is our joy and the light in our life.

Andrew is our joy and the light in our life. We waited a long time for Andrew to enter our lives and it has never been better since. From 8 months we knew Andrew was different. He hit all the milestones up till then. From age 1 he was in Physical Therapy, then Speech Therapy when he lost all of his words then Occupational Therapy.
We tried to get a diagnosis at age 3 and told he had a learning disability, continue therapy, he would eventually catch up. Over time instead of catching up he was getting further and further away. He was never interested in other children. He was happy to sit and play by himself, fixated on just one toy. It was time for us to take action!
At age 5 we got a diagnosis of ASD. Before the diagnosis I knew in my heart that he was on the spectrum. It was a very dark scary time for our family, but there is SO much light at the end of the tunnel. We immediately started on a special diet, connected with a DAN! Dr. who helped us immensely pinpointing what Andrew was lacking in vitamins/minerals. We have made huge steps forward with his general overall health.
Today at age 9 he is interested in other children, initiates play with anyone who is willing. He always has a smile for anyone who needs it. Has a special connection with animals, would dance all day if there was music playing and is a complete fish in the pool. He still doesn’t speak, but his eyes speak volumes. Our family has become much more spiritual and physically healthy as a result of the journey Andrew has taken us on. We are truly blessed to have such a special child.

Janine
Whangarei, New Zealand