Our Story

Katherine was born a healthy beautiful baby with big brown eyes and a ton of black hair on her head. She was a sweet baby and hit all of her major milestones in her first year of life. Katherine’s autism symptoms were very subtle at first. Around 18 months, her eye contact seemed off and she was starting to go into her little world. Slowly over time, subtle strange things were occurring: sleep issues, uncontrollable crying, and decreased socialization. I remember being at a friend’s picnic and all the kids were playing and having fun and she sat in her stroller the entire time.  I reported all of this to her pediatrician at her 2-year-old visit, but he was not concerned. At the time, autism was on the rise, however I had no idea. Me being an active pediatric nurse at the time, I had very rarely at that point had taken care of children with autism. Furthermore, the picture that I had of autism did not meet what my beautiful little girl was experiencing. It was not that common in 2002. I knew something was not right with her. The fact that I didn’t act or listen to my intuition still haunts me to this day.

Katherine had her first speech evaluation at 2 1/2 years old and this is when our autism journey began.  She showed global delays in every area of her development except gross motor. My head was spinning and my denial was starting to lift. The more I researched autism, the more I realized that my baby girl was most likely going to receive this diagnosis. At the time, there was a 6-month wait list to get an evaluation with a child psychologist who would be able to evaluate her. Autism was on the rise and I had no idea. Screening tools did not exist at that time. If they had she would have been diagnosed easily at 18 months and would have started treatment 18 months sooner than she did.

Katherine received the diagnosis of autism at 3 years of age. Our lives were turned completely upside down. We had to grieve what was occurring and at the same time, we had to act fast to get her the help she so desperately needed. It was an experience that was profound and would change the course of my life, hers, and my family forever.

Katherine was immediately immersed in multiple types of therapy. At 3 years of age, she was working 6 hours a day, 5 days a week on rehabilitation efforts to rewire her brain. She started with Applied Behavioral Therapy (ABA) daily and speech/occupational therapy weekly. She was 3 years old and working so hard every single day. She was put on a special diets and took supplements to help with the symptoms. We traveled all over the country to desperately find a doctor who could help her. Modern medicine’s only recommendation was intensive ABA therapy. We saw homeopathic doctors who offered us some hope. We tried everything we could. Katherine worked so hard for a 3-year-old girl, it broke my heart. After the first year, we started to supplement Katherine with some fun types of therapy that she enjoyed- like music, sensory, and equestrian therapy. She also participated in play therapy. Some things worked, some things didn’t. Her progress was slow. It took many trials and errors to figure out what was best for her as we raised her. This continues as of today. She is the hardest working most resilient person I know. I admire her for her grit and tenacity, and for dealing with her autism daily in a world that is not adapted for her. She is my inspiration. Every time I think about how hard she has to work to get through her day, it stops me in my track.