Stories of Hope

my non verbale son Dylan

this is my 11 years old son Dylan who has autism non verbale ,he is pretty smart but unfortunatly he is prisonner of his own body without the voice to express himself ,but with his IPAD he can communicate a bit and ask for what he want but so many times he is not able to make himself understand by others and that could be very frustrating ,everyday it a new challenge in the life of Dylan ,he is a lovely boy who will never hurt nobody and just want to be love and accept the way he is .I love you so much Dylan forever ,you are my hero ,we are gonna work hard for you to be able to have a happy life because for me that what the matter i just want you to be happy you deserve it ,you got your place in this world too,you can teach us and show us life differently with different eyes ,thank for everything and be yourself i love you forever and ever,im so pround of you and im wishing you the best forever mom xxx

emmanuella lirette
hawkesbury, Canada

My Son

My son is 3 years old and was recently diagnosed with Non verbal Autism in April 2013,he is a true inspiration to me in every way, he has taught me an understanding of his world and how to enter it,he has given me the gift of unconditional patiance,there is a strong love and bond between us like no other,he shows such beautiful empathy and love towards myself and his family. Days can be hard but ever so rewarding,as he says a new word for the first time,or holds my face and looks deep into my eyes touching my soul and heart. My son is more than just an inspiration....he has kept me strong,kept me going,kept me alive after losing my husband his daddy to suicide two years ago....my son takes my hand and leads the way out of the darkness and takes me into his colourful world of Autism, He is my son,my world, my life, my heart, always and forever, i thank God daily for blessing me with such a perfect son <3 xx

rachel
Cardiff, United Kingdom

Mikey!

In high school, I sat with the special ed kids. Who knew I would have an autistic son someday? God must have known that I treat the special kids fairly. Mikey is now 11 years old. Hearing him read-everything-street signs, headlines, cereal boxes--is so exciting. Most people would take such simple things for granted.
He did not talk much his first few years--now he never shuts up! He loves his pet cats. He loves to help me around the house. He loves to talk to everyone he meets. He loves to make me laugh--he loves life!

Nicole Matson
Franklin, PA

My Name is Elisabeth/Lissy (Jehovah's Pet)

Lots of autistic people. Some of them being missing, and some of them had a hard life like dealing with jerks. Anyone with autism has a unique ability, the strengths, and the weaknesses. As a kid, I knew nothing about autism until now. I had a hard childhood. It's like if your family's religious, and the problem is that you don't know about religion or God in that matter of time. You start teaching yourself that by finding any information. I figured my dark past and my autism were the thing I gotta hide them from anybody. If someone asked me about my life, then I guess it's not secret anyone. I've learned everything the hard way. I had no respect from anyone at the first elementary school I went to. I was different to them. I decided to run away from them, and never see them again for what they did to me. How autism affected me was the surgery. I had hydrophilia, or water in the brain. The weird part about me with autism is that I see ghosts, especially use them for help. It's a gift from autism. I kept autism as if it's a secret from anybody, even the guys that are wanting something that has to do with me. I don't know much about God or religion at a young age, but I began to learn about that. I knew nothing about autism until I progress more, learning about it. Autism, in my opinion, it either make you good or evil. It's like stories of heroes and villains, and that's how I see autism. To anyone's view on me, they'll think I'm an angel to them, or a demon. Or both. Someday, I'll help autistic people and non-autistic people alike to teach them about it. I'll help them out of a tough situation. I'll help anyone. I want to be their hero. I'll name my place (if there's an empty one), Jehovah's Pet, 'cause it's a unique name for a shop in my opinion. My name is Lissy, and I'm autistic. I'm nobody puppet. ~LissyGudiya~

Elisabeth/Lissy "Gudiya" Renee Nath
Central Point, OR

my brother and me.

My name is kayleigh, I'm 13.
My brother is Daniel,he's 12.

I've grown up with daniel all my life, he is the only sibling i have. Daniel was born with autism, a condition not many understand. Due to Daniels condition he behaves very badly and cannot focus. Other children aren't always aware of his condition, so they judge him!
This is a poem i wrote about my brother;

People judge him,
People stare.
People wonder about him,
Everywhere.

You may think he's different,
But he's just unique.
To be honest he's just like
You and me.

His name is Daniel,
He's 12 years old.
Daniel has autism,
Can't you tell?

So next time you say something,
Please think it through.
You may be surprised by my brother,
He surprised me too.

When Daniel was born we was told he wouldn't make it to his teenage years. Well guess what? This time next year my brother will be a teenager.
Daniel has taught me too look at the world from a different angle, I wouldn't change Daniel for the world.

Kayleigh
London, United Kingdom

When the light came at home...

Lucas was detected autism spectrum at the age of three. After one year and half of therapy, how painful for us (parents) to see him, not capable to hold nothing in his hands. But we kept hope and faith everyday. But one year ago, the unexpected appeared like a miracle. Lucas could write his name properly. How amazing, surprising, it was, when we found out his little hands holding the pen, write letters, draw.... Actually he is 6 years old and is able to use spoon, fork and even knife correctly during lunch. We are always thankful to God, to his ortophonist, to his psychomotricien for support and tips to facilitate life with Lucas. We have learned to live with him, managing his behaviour, although it's not easy in public.
We are living in Madagascar, a country where autism is unknown yet for the main population and where there are not any structure for autism. So you can imagine how difficult it is for parents to find the right therapy for his child.
But we won't give up and will keep faith for all malagasy autistic child ;-)

Mireille
Antananarivo, Madagascar

Autism and my life as a mom

Hi my name is Misty and i have an 8 year old little boy who has Pervasive Developmental Disorder. My life has forever changed when i gave birth to this amazing little boy. When he was born i knew that something was not right. I had asked the Dr many times what was wrong with my son and was always told that he was "NORMAL" . I have gone through the last 7 years asking myself if there something i did to have this happen. I have an older child who had to leave my home and go live with my mother because my son was using her as a target. I have just recently gotten the PDD diagnosis in June of this year. Everyday is a struggle but he is my bundle of joy and i love him to the ends of the earth. I am in the process of getting services in place that will help him in the future. He is very bright and smart but his behavior gets in the way of his learning. I am finding that the school is not very helpful in all this. i lay in bed at night cry so i don't cry in front of my son and have him think its all his fault. i am told every day that this is my fault and that i need to learn how to parent better. this by no means is all my fault. With all these issues i think i have grown stronger and am becoming a better person. I go out to the store and get dirty looks every time i turn around. I just wish that more people in this world today understood what i deal with everyday and how i struggle behind closed doors. i always try to have a smile on my face and act like things are good.

misty s davidson
plattsburgh, NY

Our little Hero

Our son having Autism changed the entire dynamics of our family. Our son inspires us every day to learn more about how he thinks and sees the world. He was diagnosed with ASD 299 high functioning at 2.5 years old.. he is now 5 and doing wonderful!!
I think it's been a positive and challenging change for us because now we always search for ways to learn about him as well as from him.
At first we didn't know what to do or how to teach him important things..and it was excruciatingly frustrating. He tends to only sleep for 2-4 hours and his mind works so much faster than his body.. I felt like we were not able to help him to his fullest potential alone so We reached out for help from our local regional center "alta" and have been gifted with excellent teachers for him as well as parenting classes for parents with children on the spectrum . We now have all the tools we need to help him learn how to communicate effectively .
He is talking now and communicating to us his needs and wants and shows us every day how intelligent,caring, gentle and loving he is. He picks flowers every day for his aba classmates and teachers and is a true gift to us as parents . It opened our eyes that people are wired many different ways but none the less are the same inside.
He is so precious and sweet I could never imagine him any other way.

Bobbie Jo Pruett
Sacramento, CA

Coping with Autistic twins

We knew something wasn't right when they were little. They were not meeting milestones. At first the doctor said it was do to them being twins. We put them in an Intervention program around 18 months old. When they turned 3 they were diagnosed with Autism. They were able to start school at 3 for this reason. They are high functioning. They can speak. At 5 years old we were told to put them in extra speech and occupational therapies outside of school to help them even more and we did. It really helped them a great deal and well worth the extra driving to take them to these therapies. They are now 11years old and still are going to the therapies. The girls are entering a new chapter in there life. This school year they will be entering middle school. They are still in the ESE program. We are seeing certain talents starting to emerge as well. One twin is becoming an artist and the other twin is our singer. Our singer, sang a solo at church for the first time this past Christmas. They are awesome young ladies. It's a new adventure everyday.

Anonymous
Ruskin, FL

lost hope

Hi my name is Danielle. I am the single mom of an autistic 4 yr old wonderful boy. By single I mean we have no one he was a planned pregnancy with the man I was with for 6yrs and engaged to for 2. Things have not been easy but we have always managed. 3 months ago that all changed l&I found 11 violations in the house we rent a room including mold that has caused both my son and I to be hospitalized more than once the city is condemning the house and we have 30days to be out 2 months ago I lost my job as a infant nanny something I love and have been doing for 10 yrs the mom decided to be a stay at home. I apply to about 50 jobs a day my son goes to a school 4 days a week only for autistic children caring for children is what I was put on earth to do but I always get the same answer you sound perfect but you have a child ive tried applying to retail jobs and jobs like that but they want open availability I don’t have I have reached out to ever organization from rental assistance to shelters to city hall all of them turned us away. My son does get ssd but its not enough to live off right now it looks like we are going to be homeless I am a good person and a hard worker I just need a chance for my sons sake if you can help I don’t mean money I mean ideas apartment to rent work please let me know I live in Philadelphia pa thank you for your time and God bless

danielle dawn donahue
philadelphia, PA