Kit Cat's biggest cheerleader and best friend

Kit Cat's biggest cheerleader and best friend is her big sister Gracie.  From the moment that we told Gracie that we were pregnant with Kit Cat, Gracie has been crazy about her baby sister.  Gracie calls Kit Cat "her baby".  Gracie was the third person to hold Kit Cat after her birth, held her bottles for her, played with her and has always been in her sister's face.  Without Gracie, we feel that Kit Cat's autism would not be as mild and that without Gracie pushing her along, Cat would not be making so many gains in her social and communication skills.

Gracie loves to do Play Project or any kind of therapy with her sister. She is always asking if she can help with Kit Cat in any way possible, whether it be bathing, dressing, or bedtime at night. Gracie is so kind, patient and loves her baby with every fiber of her being. Kit Cat lights up at the sight of her sister and is always trying to imitate her and its always Grace that can draw Kit Cat out of her world with little effort.  When Gracie is gone at Camp Grandma's, Kit Cat is constantly looking for her big sister.  Without Gracie in our lives, I don't know how any of us would cope, but especially Kit Cat who needs her big sister to teach her the things that Mommy and Daddy can't and to be one of her biggest cheerleaders and first best friend.   I am so happy that they are so close and hope that continues as they get older.

Love of water

One of Kit Cat's greatest loves is water. She is the happiest when she is in the water, splashing around, without a care in the world.  From the moment of her first sponge bath after birth when she was the only baby in the nursery who didn't cry when being washed through today when we went to Maumee Bay State Park to play in the lake, she experiences 100% pure joy.  I think its a great sensory experience for her and its one of the times that she is not overwhelmed with everything around her and she feels connected to her body.

She began swimming lessons at 6 months of age at our local YMCA and took to the water like a fish.  She has a good doggy paddle going on when she has her life jacket on or when her Dad or I are holding her.  She also tries to swim in the bath tub as well.  She splashes so much in the tub that I probably should invest in a wet suit so that I am not completely soaked when its over with.

The water is also one of the times that we can engage her pretty easily with silly games and songs as well. It is how we taught her some of the body parts and some of the songs that she loves.  Water is also one of the only ways we can calm her down if she is having a major meltdown too. When the meltdown happens and we can't stop it, we fill the tub up with water and put her in and this instantly calms her down.  I am so grateful for something so simple that she can connect with and to us.

The beginning of our journey aka the diagnosis

If you were to look at my husband, me and our two beautiful little girls, you would think we were a completely normal family with two neuro-typical little girls with red hair and blue eyes.  However, our youngest little girl, Kit Cat has Autism Spectrum Disorder.  She was diagnosed four days before her second birthday on November 16, 2012 at Mercy Autism Services by developmental pediatrician and creator of PLAY Project, Dr. Richard Soloman.  This day was the worst day of our lives but also confirmation of what we had known deep in our hearts since our little girl celebrated her first birthday.

By the time Kit Cat was a year old it was clearly evident that something was not quite right with our little girl. She never responded to her name, never made eye contact and was content to play by herself and be in her own little world.  She had hit all of her developmental milestones early or on time until this point, rolling, sitting, crawling and walking, but the talking wasn't happening.  We thought maybe her speech was delayed because she had been so sick her first year of life with RSV, Reactive Airway Disease and GERD.  However, that wasn't the case.  Our old pediatrician did not pick up on the beginnings of Autism and did not seemed concerned about her socialization and communication skills. After many mishaps with our old pediatrician, we switched to a new pediatrician by the name of Dr. Colleen Olson. She was the first person, besides my husband to pick up on the possibility of Kit Cat having Autism. Dr. Olson had us do the MCHAT (Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers) and Ages & Stages Questionnaire. Kit Cat did not pass either of them, so Dr. Olson referred us to Help Me Grow and suggested that when we were ready that we should consult a developmental pediatrician for a possible Autism diagnosis.  I was in denial and did not want to see a developmental pediatrician but we did seek assistance for Kit Cat through Ohio's Help Me Grow and Lucas County Board of Developmental Disabilities Early Intervention Program.  The county evaluated Cathleen and determined that Kit Cat had delays in communication, social/emotional and adaptive/self help skills. We began private speech therapy and monthly home visits from our Early Intervention Specialist Brooke Gump.

It was through the continued encouragement of Dr. Olson, Brooke Gump and my husband/Kit Cat's father Andy that we made an appointment with Dr. Soloman to finally determine if our daughter had Autism.  After observing Kit Cat for two hours and asking and answering questions that Dr. Soloman made the diagnosis and said the words that I will never ever forget,  "Cathleen has Mild Autistic Disorder".  That was the end of my world and my heart broke.