My Story
Autism became a part of our lives when our child, Bre, was months over the age of three years old. Up until this time we had no clue!
Bre was the brightest and happiest baby on earth. She was always smiling and interacting. She learned fast and we started her education as soon as she could sit up.
She learned all her colors, shapes, letters, and numbers and knew all 50 states by their shape! She was always verbal and sang songs from memory!
Two of her favorites were Amazing Grace and Happy Birthday, the latter which she proudly sang out loud during a visit to church during a Christmas celebration as soon as she saw lit candles! She was born with a wonderful sense of humor!
Although we refer to Bre as "our child", she is actually our grandchild, but since we have had custody of her since she was around eight months old, she is ours.
We are one of thousands of grandparents raising grandchildren in this "ME" generation and we took on this task because of our love for Bre. It was a daunting task, becoming parents again.
We were so blessed to have the help of my mother whom Bre called Nanny and my sister, her Aunt Cindy, to help us with caring for Bre while I was still working and until she was old enough for us to find appropriate daycare for her.
We knew very little about autism, why would we, we never knew anyone who had it. Even though as a toddler, Bre was obsessed with playing with spoons, we just thought she liked them! She carried one with her every waking moment.
But it was while she was enrolled in daycare that we started having suspensions that something was just not right. She was always playing by herself, she did not interact with the other children.
When I went to pick her up one afternoon, she was on the playground in a corner of the yard under a tree, flipping her spoon back and forth, watching it with intense fascination.
The caretakers bragged on her as being the "best child they had" as she never gave them any trouble. We thought "a toddler who never fussed, or pitched a fit or fought with other children over a toy?" Bre was a very sweet child, but something was wrong with this picture! I took her to her pediatrician and mentioned my concerns to him.
He recommended we take her to a neurologist. After all the tests were done, we were given the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Immediately she was enrolled in Early Childhood Intervention at the local school. If we had been aware of autism, we would have sought help much sooner, but we were knew to this disorder, and so our journey through the maze of internet information began.
This is why we wanted to have a website that could make other parents aware and offer information that could help them on their own personal journey through autism.
Bre will soon be nine years old. She constantly amazes us with what she knows! She has had tremendous help from the Teachers, Aides, Speech and OT therapist and all the staff at Holtville Elementary School. We are so fortunate to live in a small town with a great school system that cares for Bre. They have truly helped her blossom!
Bre loves spending time with her grandfather whom she calls "Honey" (assuming that is what she should call him since that is what I call him), so it stuck.
As for me, I am her grandmother "BB" and I am the one she is constantly attached too, literally!
I rarely breath my own air, as she is always in my face, rubbing my nose and "smelling my sugar" as she calls it.
I believe she has a bloodhound nose and can smell me within 50 yards, ha ha ha.
Although this drives me crazy at times, I am thankful that I have "Honey" to come to my rescue when I need a break. He brings the laughter to our lives.
So this is how our journey began. It is a never ending journey of love, patience, the known and the unknown, but one we are committed too.
We can only hope that through autism research that someday this journey will come to an end.
Sincerely,
B.B.