Personal Narrative: The Child That Changed Everything
The Child That Changed Everything What do you think that you could learn from raising a child with autism? I can say from experience that it has been one of the greatest learning adventures that I have ever partaken in; therefore, the most influential person in my life is my daughter Cathrine because she taught me to never give up and how to be truly happy.
Watching my daughter learn how to talk has taught me to never give up, even in the face of adversity. It was not all that long ago that Cathrine was completely non-verbal. The only means of expression that she had could be heard in her small grunts, coos, or screams. I did everything that a normal parent would do to facilitate the development of language skills in a child. I talked with her, read to her, introduced language videos, and took her …show more content…
I celebrated her victory with her right there in the kitchen. She continued to say “yeah” over and over again. She continued saying “yeah” into the next day, and week. I used many different strategies to show her the context of how the word “yeah” can be used, despite my efforts she still used the word yeah as a noise rather than a means of communication. Shortly after, Cathrine was diagnosed as having Autism by Nationwide Children’s Hospital. When I asked the doctors if she would ever talk, they could not give me an answer. That was the moment when I knew that there was a real possibility that she may never talk and that I may never fully get to experience my child’s personality. That possibility fueled me to learn everything I could about autism. I learned about the different types of communication issues that children with autism have and as a result, I found some new strategies to aide her in talking. We used sign language and The Picture Exchange Communication System ( P.E.C.S. Cards) to assist her in reaching her communication goals. I purchased an assisted communication device for her as well. With the combination of these three strategies, finally, Cathrine
Watching my daughter learn how to talk has taught me to never give up, even in the face of adversity. It was not all that long ago that Cathrine was completely non-verbal. The only means of expression that she had could be heard in her small grunts, coos, or screams. I did everything that a normal parent would do to facilitate the development of language skills in a child. I talked with her, read to her, introduced language videos, and took her …show more content…
I celebrated her victory with her right there in the kitchen. She continued to say “yeah” over and over again. She continued saying “yeah” into the next day, and week. I used many different strategies to show her the context of how the word “yeah” can be used, despite my efforts she still used the word yeah as a noise rather than a means of communication. Shortly after, Cathrine was diagnosed as having Autism by Nationwide Children’s Hospital. When I asked the doctors if she would ever talk, they could not give me an answer. That was the moment when I knew that there was a real possibility that she may never talk and that I may never fully get to experience my child’s personality. That possibility fueled me to learn everything I could about autism. I learned about the different types of communication issues that children with autism have and as a result, I found some new strategies to aide her in talking. We used sign language and The Picture Exchange Communication System ( P.E.C.S. Cards) to assist her in reaching her communication goals. I purchased an assisted communication device for her as well. With the combination of these three strategies, finally, Cathrine