Introduction

[Guest guest]

Hi - I'm Laurie; my husband is Tom, and our two children are , age 9

1/2, and Abby, age 6. Abby is autistic - probably mild to moderate.

Personality-wise, she's the quintessential little girl - loves to wear

necklaces, bracelets, rings, etc. She also likes anything to do with bears

- Winnie the Pooh and Berenstain Bears are current favorites. She doesn't

really understand everything in the Berenstain Bear stories, but - they're

bears!!

She likes to draw, color, and copy anything does. She's affectionate

with us, and likes to tease, but is unable to do much back-and-forth

conversation.

We held her back a year, so she's in afternoon kindergarten this year.

School started last week, and she seems to be liking it. She is

mainstreamed with an aide. The aide hadn't been hired yet, so the speech

pathologist and a substitute special ed teacher have been working with her.

Preacademics are a strength for her, but the language and social skills are

a big problem. She's not aggressive, but becomes very anxious if she

doesn't know what to expect. Social stories and a schedule work very well

for Abby.

Abby was always a very quiet and passive child. Even prenatally, she was

quiet. Her first day of life, the pediatrician commented that she was very

quiet. There were no real obvious concerns when she was an infant - just

some little things - but I don't think her autism is due to vaccine damage

or leaky gut or anything related. I think she was always probably autistic.

We homeschool our son, and may homeschool her at some point. She will be

in a couple of morning homeschool co-ops this year, in addition to

afternoon K. We wanted to " play both sides of the fence " this year to see

how she does. She also has speech and occupational therapies.

Fortunately, a busy schedule doesn't seem to bother her!

Well, that's it for now! Thank you for having this list.

Laurie