Two years ago, on November 16, 2014 Kit Cat was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. That day was one of the worst days of my life but probably the best day for Kit Cat in a way and for her family. The reason I think it was the best day in a way is that it got us off the whole "shit or get off the pot" mentality. We had been riding a roller coaster she is autistic, she isn't and with the doctor's words of "Cathleen has mild autistic disorder" we jumped right into intensive early intervention.
We started PLAY Project that very day and added PT, OT, speech, and sensory integration therapies within weeks of the diagnosis. Our quick actions and that of key people at Cat's daycare (which is also a school) saved our daughter and have given her a bright future. Two years ago she was completely lost in her own little world and didn't answer to her name. Now, she knows her name and bugs the hell out of us, which is a miracle to us and we love that she will throw a PECS card at us or grab our hand and walk us to where she needs help with something. Her verbal skills are also emerging more every day. Hopefully some day soon she will be considered to be fully verbal, if not that is ok as she can communicate with us between gestures, PECS and her words.
So I want to take the time to thank all of Cat's heroes: her big sister Grace, her Daddy, Stacey, Lynlee, Sheri, Heather, Carol, Kevin, Ellen, Teri, Paige, Brooke, Lauren, Dr. Solomon, Dr. Olson, Janie and the rest of the staff at Cat's school and our local children's hospital thank you for pushing us along the way, for pushing us to get that diagnosis and for helping our miracle, Kit Cat to fully blossom these last 2 years.
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