On a cold January morning we packed up and went to the hospital for what was to be the most exciting day of my life. It was the day that I found my purpose in life, for it was the day that my beautiful daughter was born. She was so precious and we called her Shadowe-lyn.
Everything was normal and my life was complete. I was about to start the thrill of parenthood but little did I know what challenges lay ahead. Shadowe-lyn hit all her physical milestones early, however there were things that weren't developing. She seemed to be in a world of her own and didn't like to be held. Her speech was non existent. Out of ignorance, fear, and denial, I just kept on trying to get her to come along. My family offered me words of encouragement but I was still worried. I knew nothing of Autism, except I had met a child in the 80's that had it but he didn't really resemble my daughter. At the age of 5 and a bit it was time for school, and I was terrified. They recommended that we see a specialist on child disorders.
I stood in the doctor's office on Oct 13th 2002 and heard him say "your daughter has PDD." I had never heard of it so I asked him what it meant. He asked if I had ever heard of Autism, and my heart sank. I went home that day and took a hot bath and cried like a baby. I went into my daughter's room and made a vow to her that together we were going to beat this. I jumped on the Internet that night and started reading everything I could. I was determined not to lose this fight.
At her school there was a wonderful teacher who decided to step up and save my girl from the grasp of Autism. She taught me a lot, would never let me give up, and shared my pain. My wife couldn't handle it, and she walked out, but this teacher just said "I'm sorry to hear it but now you can concentrate on Shadowe."
That first year was such a rollercoaster, however Shadowe started to improve. Through picture cards, sign language and making up little songs, she was starting to take the fight to Autism. I'll never forget the day that she asked me for a "drink please". It was another one of those times I cried like a baby.
By the end of that year I was told there was a great program in the next town and that the school had really pressed for Shadowe to go. I packed up, and moved to St Catharines.
Shadowe started the new program and things really started to click. These new women fell in love with her, they were determined to help her fight. She continued to improve, day by day. By the start of the second year she had started to read a little, but her behaviors were still terrible. She had started to acknowledge her peers, she could count to 100, she loved to go to school everyday.
This year has been amazing, they have now decided that she should be in a regular program with what they call floating E.A's. She will start in September, I couldn't be more proud of her. Now please don't get me wrong there's still along way to go but she is definitely beating Autism!
in conclusion i would just like to say to other parents, don't ever give up, for you never know when that breakthrough will happen, or how it will happen!
