Emma is 6 years old and was dx'd with PDD-NOS. She has expressive language issues and sound sensitivity and is also a very bright and kind child. She is in mainstream first grade with support as needed. She is excelling in school and performs above grade level in reading and math. She likes horseback riding, swimming lessons and goes to art school in the summer. She loves traveling --- her favorite places so far are Disneyland and Alaska. She LOVES Minnie Mouse and also cats!
One problem is dealing with neighbors who don't believe in some of the features of autism. They put their basketball goal in line with our ONE window and kept hitting our window with basketballs. This turned out to be a big sound sensitivity trigger for Emma. We tried to talk to the neighbors and explained about Emma. We asked if they could please move their basketball a few feet out of line with our window. They said "Nope" and told us to either put plexiglass on our window or move if we don't like the sounds of kids playing. They just don't understand sound sensitivity :( The worst part is not too long after that, the Dad lined his kids up and had them bat baseballs directly at our window. At that point, we decided a nice fence was prettier than plexiglass.
It's sad it's come to this -- I've done a lot of thinking about how to handle this. These neighbors have also been ugly to another family down the street with a special needs family. The best solution I've come up with is to advocate about autism awareness (sound sensitivity IS real). How do you deal with evil neighbors? You don't -- you ignore them and go on your merry way. The world is a BIG place :) That's what we're teaching Emma and her sister.
Emma continues to do great -- she's smart, funny, kind and brave. She's working hard and each year just gets better and better for her :) We love you Em and we're so very proud of you!
Pearland, TX
