One of our children is normal·..the other is not.
Aubrey is autistic.
Bad. Really autistic. No PDD. No Asperger‘s Syndrome.
We were told she would never speak, or function in any way in society, or go to regular school.
I told the psychiatrist that we were not getting rid of her college fund yet·she was 2.
She told my husband that I was unrealistic, and in need of my own psychiatrist.
We were told that we should consider respite care....take vacations without her, so that our other child could lead a normal life, without the stigma of her sister. We were told by this psychiatrist that we should consider an institution for her.
We were told by the Director of Special Education in one town, that we were expecting too much of her.
We told him we were not expecting enough of him.
I was told that I was in a dream world. Get over her. Have more children.
Our daughter is our living dream··they both are.
Aubrey speaks·..she sang in school chorus’ and school plays, at parties, and at Cabaret Camp and Christmas shows.
She played basketball in the middle school and was on the track team. She swims for her high school swim team, and is training in diving.
She has volunteered at the local community center in an art program for 5 year olds, and was a “typical” peer model for disabled students in a cooking class at the Kennedy Center in Connecticut.
She goes to regular school.......without an aide.......in regular classes.....She is a 10th grade student in the high school, taking all college prep classes. She has no modifications to her grades. She got 2 A's and 4 B's on her report card.....Math is her favorite subject.
She has friends!
She had speaking parts in school plays.
She is polite, and kind to others.
She tries to be fair to all, and tries not to hurt other's feelings.
She has camped with school and Girl Scouts, loves to ride in the jet boat, and rode on the Rockin' Roller Coaster in Disney World seven times last time we went there. She took a trip to Florida with her sister’s marching band- and I did not go with them.
She speaks........a lot!!
She never had auditory training, or vision therapy, or special sensory integration therapy, or formalized ABA, or any of the other therapies that are all the rage in the autism circle. She did attend a special school which incorporated all the best elements of various methodologies for her.
The hardest thing for me when I found out about Aubrey was the fact that there was no real help for me beside the therapists I found to work with her (there was no Birth-2-3 then). The pediatrician led me to the right places, but beside that there was no one who had any hope. I want to make sure that people realize that there is a lot of hope. But there is a lot of work involved.
The payoff is worth more money than anything, when your child can be trusted to go to the movies with a friend without supervision, or be left at home for 20 minutes while you run to get some milk.
