Thriving with Level 3 Autism

Charli is currently in an amazing season of thriving! Against all odds, in the midst of a pandemic, we have seen so much growth in this sweet little girl. She still attends ABA therapy in the evenings 5 days a week but during the day she is in kindergarten. She is doing very well with her academics and daily routine. She loves school and her teacher and for us this is the most “normal” life has been since her diagnosis. She often gives us glimmers of hope that her language will unlock one of these days soon. Her one word mands have progressed to memorized phrases and sentences. Answering questions is still not a mastered skill but she now requests items with a full sentence such as “Can I have nilk (milk) please” or  “chips and cup and nilk!” her demands come with a smirk and fairly like walk or dance. She is a magic little thing. When things get easy, for me at least, it’s easy to forget they were once so hard. It use to be such a challenge just to get Charli to the car and now she is the first one in and jumps right in her seat to help us buckle up. She use to be so frustrated and cry and meltdown and now we can go days without a tear. Her happy demeanor is infectious and I see all the staff in her school light up and smile as she prances in the door and we feel just the same when she is home with us. She truly is such a light. We recently found out she loves horses. Green is her favorite color. She is kind and compassionate with her siblings but also will steal their toys and out run them and laugh about it. She can use an iPad more efficiently than I can. She is smart and brave and beautiful and everyday amazes us.