Happy 3rd birthday

Birthdays have always been too abstract for Maddux to understand. So, having birthday parties have never been the typical fun. Here we celebrated at home in Redondo Beach just like all of her previous birthdays. We just opened her gifts for her hoping one day she would understand and blow out the candle rather than just staring at it.

Early Intervention Graduation

Maddux graduated from Early Intervention in February 2006. It was a sad but wonderful day because I could look back and see a change in her. She still was not saying much, but her eye contact was better and she had a strong foundation of strength and knowledge... as did I. Maddux continued with outside OT and PT therapy with Noel and Melissa after she started preschool. Now she was just going to BIG school. It was scary going from my bubble of safety called Early Intervention to being at the mercy of the public school system. Fortunately in my case, a well-informed mom equalled a smooth transition.

PT

Noel was Maddux's Physical Therapist. She pushed Maddux's limits the most. Thank goodness! I never did and so I never saw what she could really accomplish on her own. I tend to help her with everything just thinking she can not do it. Noel really helped me to step back and say "just let her do it". Noel used to always say, "use your muscles" and Maddux still says that to this day. Thank you Noel for pushing the both of us!

OT

Melissa was Maddux's occupational therapist and my teacher. She taught me everything I know about gross/fine motor and sensory integration. She worked with Maddux for 2 years. She was part of the small window of opportunity that you have to mold and change your child with Autism. I still email her and ask her questions today, even though she is now in Ireland. Thanks for not going there until we left!

The frog swing was Maddux's favorite activity.



She grabbed a "spikey ball" everyday she went into
therapy. I will never see one without thinking of Melissa.

Early Intervention

These are some of the people who worked with Maddux and me and changed our lives. Maddux attended one of the best schools in sensory intergration, and they treated her like she was their own. We have made lasting relationships with these people, and they will always be the reason why Maddux is where she is today. THANKS! God was definitely holding their hands while they were working with her. They helped guide her and pushed her to her limits. She also pushed them to their limits, but it was nice to see her fight them. It meant she had feelings about something. And to us that meant she was on her way "back".

Do you see a pattern

These pictures are our Maddux then and they are still her now. She loves her thumb and her special baby. With all of her sensory issues, her thumb helps to sooth her and her baby makes her feel comfortable and safe. During this time she would occasionally look into the camera but with no purpose. But it was coming, I could see it.

Hiding inside herself

Even though the picture does not show it, Maddux was hiding in there just waiting to come out and amaze us! She was like this for 2 years but not solely because of autism. We lost Maddux to seizures long before we lost her to Autism. I think that is why the Autism diagnosis was not a shock to us. I was happy to finally have her pediatrician not look at me like I was crazy. Part of me wanted to go by and say "See, I told you something was wrong." But now it was up to us to "fix" it. And that is what we did.

Her EEG

These 2 images, just days after her MMR, are just reminders of what not to forget. Although they seem like bad reminders, it is a testament to Maddux's past, her Strength and her Will. All of which I do not want to forget. She will always be in remission from Epilepsy. She will never be cured but I can always look back and see what she has come though and know that God never gives us more than we can handle. He may pile it on thick at times, but it is because you have the strengh to get through it.

Our last smile

We really cherish this picture for many reasons. This is one of the last pictures we have of her smiling. It was taken by my best friend, Erika, at Christmas and her first seizure was in February. Erika sent this to me after Maddux was put in ICU during her first treatment for Infantile Spasms. I remember coming home to shower and getting this in the mail and crying because I could see in this picture what I had not seen in 2 months.