1st blog post and why I'm doing this.

Our beautiful, gentle daughter just turned 17 years old a month ago. Where have the years gone? From the time she became school aged (3) and entered "the system", the chaos of IEP's, medicaid paperwork, and planning for her future, we have been thinking that this day was SO far in the distant future. Now we are facing her graduating from high school just one short year from now. "What will she do when she graduates?" The is the question that we hear from everyone that is kind enough to care. We ask ourselves the very same question. What IS the plan? Will she live at home for the rest of her life? Sure why not? I dreaded that thought when she was little and smearing poop on the walls, but now I kind of like the idea. She's WAY cleaner than her dad or her brother and she's so happy all the time that she creates an aura of joy and innocence in the home that we all need. I get nervous that once her younger brother heads off to college,  she will see that as an option and might want to head off too? She can't even cross the street on her own nor turn on a shower without scalding herself, so the idea of college puts me into a total panic. We'd ask her what her future dreams are if she had the ability to really answer, but those kinds of conversations are more frustrating than revealing. Here is a typical conversation around gifts: "Molly, what do you want for your birthday?" Silence. "What would you want for your present?" She will say on her "talker" (her augmentative device that is iPad sized and what she uses to talk) "present". ""No, but what do you want INSIDE the present, inside the box?" "Present". So that's kind of how the whole "what do you want to be when you grow up?" conversation goes. "Up". These are abstract concepts that are tough for her. We get no real answers. So she might still be living at home when I am 90 and can then wipe my poop smears off the bed :)

Basically Molly is non verbal, however in the last year 2 years since we introduced the VB-MAPP system of teaching her, she has begun to blossom. Brain connections are being made and it is fascinating to see the changes. She has about 20 spoken words and when "Mom" came out a few years ago, you know that I was thrilled. I would have cried if I hadn't have been SO surprised! So I figured that with all the new exciting changes that we continue to see in Molly, that blogging about her, uploading videos about her, and sharing the little milestones, will help our family to document the fun and maybe even provide a little hope to other families that are along the autism ride too.

I'm excited to document what is happening currently, as well as post pictures and videos from her first 17 years of life, to give perspective on how far we have come. Not really sure how this whole blogging thing goes, but let's give it a try!