“I wish I could be in Xaria’s head for at least 5 minutes to know what is in her mind…" This has been my wish since she was diagnosed with Autism.
Xaria was striking every developmental milestone you can read in books until the age of 1. After that, I notice that everything stopped; speech, socializing, stopped eating certain foods, and she wouldn’t respond to her name. Xaria started to have meltdowns and wouldn’t even get out my side. We went to Puerto Rico to see my parents and it was very difficult to see her grandparents trying to engage with Xaria but she wouldn’t even get close to them. Xaria cried all the time that we were there. I expressed my concern to the pediatrician in which her response was that listening to both language (Spanish and English) probably was creating some confusion and delaying her speech. I started doing my own research using the signs - “toe walking”, “hand movements”, lack of engagement, and lack of speech… and there it was, everything was linking to Autism. We decided to take her to a Neurologist Clinic and 3 days before her third birthday, Xaria was diagnosed with Autism.
At that moment, I made it my mission to minimize her “Autism signs” for her to have a chance of a better life. I developed a work plan that included an entire team of therapist such as ABA, Speech and Occupational Therapy, Sensorial Integration Therapy to provide service at daycare. The purpose was to have an aggressive approach while increasing her socialization skills. Over the weekends, Xaria had Vision Therapy, and Horseback riding. In a short time after this, Xaria started to be more social, meeting milestones, started saying key words and pointing at things. Four years later, Xaria is in a contained regular classroom, obtained art awards, spends her summers with my parents in Puerto Rico, and answer different types of questions in English and Spanish!!
Xaria has taught me more than what I have taught her because Xaria is and always be a child with a great mind.
Chicago, IL