Getting ready for another new week

So, it's Michigan alright. 80's one day and down to freezing at night a few days later. *sigh*

Being springtime, allergies are abundant which means issues for my Arianna. Allergies to seasonal items such as pollen and mold effect her in a different way than most others. Myself, it's red, itchy eyes and stuffy nose...for Arianna it means more stimming, toe walking, less attention span and more outbursts. With each season change presents new challenges to work through, we manage but those who live in the world of autism know it's surely NOT easy.

Back to our journey of pre-diagnosis in 2005. After the blow of someone telling me that my child would never be 'normal', I managed to gather myself enough to keep going in this world even if I had a special needs child. My bond as mother grew less and less because I had no idea how to interact with Arianna other than to care for her basic needs. I still had TONS of questions why, what happened and where do I go from here but no one offered information or mentioned how to help her. The only thing MISD did was try to do physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy which did nothing but drive me further into depression as Arianna screamed and cried the entire time she was at those therapy sessions.

Months went by, going through the motions of each day and watching my beautiful daughter go deeper and deeper into this mysterious world of her own. I had NO idea about autism, what it was or that there was something that could be done to help her. Trouble is...she was not diagnosed with autism because in 2005 - the medical profession did not even consider that because she wasn't the typical age (3-5 years old) when they say 'ok, yep - your kid is autistic'. I pulled Arianna out of the MISD program after only a few months and decided I would work with her on my own and in the ways I felt she needed.

In 2006, Arianna still lacked muscle tone more and more as time went on from age 1 to 2, therefore she did not walk...rather she 'walked' on her knees until after the age of 2. I believe that if I didn't start pushing Arianna to do more the way I did - she may never have walked if it were up to her. To my shear joy...at about 2 years and 3 months old, Arianna took her first indendant steps and began to walk.

That first change towards 'normalcy' gave me HOPE! What was to come for the rest of 2006 would be nothing more than God's blessing in my mind. God would send an angel our way that would bring more hope, more joy but also many trials to come.