Meet Katana ❤ Unique Autistic Quirks Part 1
I would like to take a moment to introduce you to my amazing little girl Katana, she is 7 years old now but was diagnosed as Autistic when she was around two and a half years old.
Above shows her building block towers at two years of age, one of the first indications Katana was operating on a different level to most kids - she started building towers like this and bigger when she was around six months old.
Katana and a lot of other children with Autism can show amazing levels of joy over things most take for granted, both Katana and her little brother love their bubbles!
Katana's main form of stimming is jumping, she loves to jump and does it constantly most days. She jumps even more when she's excited - or reading...
And then there's the lining up and organising her little people toys.
And then moving them to line them up somewhere else.
She will line up her princess dolls too.
Even the bigger ones that don't like to stand - check out the background.
Any surface is good for lining up - in spite of how frustrated she gets trying to make it work!
Even the pot plants needed to be organised.
Not sure how to explain her obsession with ears - but before her regression ear was the third word she ever said! Do you see the sheer focus on her eyes as she manipulates it.
But she does love her swing - this one is even better because it gives her the feedback she loves.
Now who said people with Autism can't be affectionate? Katana is obsessed with cuddles.
Anything is good for a hug if you love it enough, she loved her ECDP and knew that her bag meant school so she loved her bag so much she wouldn't put it down in the car.
Now at times Autism can be challenging, waking up to find your daughter like this was not fun - the knives were stored just on the other side and there was a gate to stop her getting close didn't think she'd go over the top...
Worse still is when you wake up and can't find your daughter at all, only to eventually realise she crawled under her bed in the middle of the night and fell asleep...
Or when you pour a bath turn your back for a minute and then she's in even fully dressed, water is a massive sensory seeking experience for her and she just can't get enough.
And then there's well some more sensory seeking - she comes home from school most days looking like this!
Sometimes you just gotta smile and enjoy the innocence of it all.
Katana is a beautiful, smart and talented little girl, who just happens to also be Autistic - this does not define who she is or what she is capable of.
I am so proud of how far she has come, Autism is a long road with many ups and downs not to mention the times you stray completely off course.
The important thing to remember is with enough time, effort and love anything is possible - I really look forward to the day my little girl can talk to me, tell me how her day was, what she's feeling, wanting or thinking. I will always fight for my beautiful little girl!
I actually work for a non-profit that help people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. I have seen people with severe disabilities become completely independent. It's very rewarding. There needs to be more awareness out there on such matters. One reason I came to SteemIt was to supplement my lack of income working where I do.
In my experience, the people drawn to this sort of work have been 99.9% amazing positive people that go without recognition for a difficult job.. I'll try to remember to make an extra effort to check your posts and upvote undervalued quality :)
Its rewarding in feels and karma , but from what I've seen the people trying the hardest are borderline starving and doing it anyway because they're completely emotionally invested..
You nailed it. I started my position making 8 dollars an hour 8 years ago. I'm not all that much better off now. SteemIt has brought me hope because I want to stay where I am. I'm holding myself back from my own life for my job right now. I have a girlfriend that really deserves a ring and financially I can't make that happen without leaving. I never wrote before here. I'll continue to grind. Just remember as I tell many of my clients parents, you aren't alone. Things get tough sometimes but there are people here to help you. I'm one of them. If I can ever do anything let me know.
Well I'm now even more a of a fan :) I have a massive respect for people that choose to do this work - it's hard and often goes without not only financial gain but also credit or thanks.
Since finding out we were part of this community the support we have received from other parents, teachers and therapists has been overwhelming not to mention we have the most awesome paed - who goes above and beyond and was the first stranger to make a connection with our little girl.
One of the main incentives for my joining steem was to help supplement our income with my writing even if only a small way, the costs of raising a child with a disability is insane and we have two so it's doubled!
I never understood why some of the most important people in our communities are so undervalued - nurses, special needs teachers, charity workers, carers, respite workers are all massively undervalued and underappreciated.
I wish there was a way to show the greater world the amazing services you provide families like ours, without people like you people like us would be facing this epic challenge alone - so thanks for your support and the support you provide to all your clients :)
@kryptik - I may need some guidance with resources for adults. My son is 21 with Asperger's and he's angry and frustrated all the time. 1. he thinks he knows everything until proven wrong. 2. no one will hire him and he thinks I'm an idiot for prompting him to wear nice clothes to an interview. So with no job history, and really no friends for references, and being unwilling to say he needs help... well... I need help! sigh Yeah, any kind of direction would be great.
What area do you live in?
The most important things to remember when shaping undesirable behavior is you have to make the result you're looking for easier to accomplish than the negative behavior, and sometimes him getting angry might be because your reaction to that behavior is fulfilling some basic need.
I live in Florida now. Sadly we missed out on any kind of early intervention because he was never disruptive and was passing most of his classes so I was given the runaround for so many years. And now I have an adult child. I've learned to "stand down" when our conversations have become heated - but he's not learning from me anymore he just thinks I'm stupid. So I need to get him out and more socialized. Job training and placement would help his self-esteem and make all the difference in the world - at least I hope so. I've approached him about speaking to someone at the local state health and human services office...I don't know how long it's going to take him to come around but I've planted the seed and I know he's thinking about it. I guess I need resources for me...and it's frustrating because I'm on the scale too!
The particular non-profit I work for specializes in helping people with this exact sort of thing. Unfortunately we are focused in our local area.
Not sure where exactly you are located but this website might lead you in the direction of some organizations with some resources that could help you.
http://www.arcflorida.org
I hope this helps a little. If not let me know and I'd gladly do some research for you!
Would have loved to have donated the huge tubs of Lego's we gave away .... to her ... just to see her smile !!!
What a beautiful, wonderful child !
Thank you she is and I'm sure she would have been - mind you one thing we do have is a lot of is toys we aren't able to go out much so to make up for this the kids have a pretty amazing stash of goodies to keep them entertained :)
@krystle
Yes, I can see that you both are wonderful parents and hope @ausbitbank gets to go on trip ! My youngest son was not autistic, but had a very high IQ., Actually to the point where he was a(Special needs) child. When I saw Katana stacking & lining things up it reminded me of my son when he was very young. Duplos were just not right, he was bored. But when I got Legos he came alive ... by the time he was 3 he had 2 knee high tubs of legos and 4 by age 4 and became bored. This was about the time he would not stay away from my computer, I would catch him at 3 a.m. up playing games. Like the pic of Katana with the bubbles, when I bought him a playstation, came alive again ... But he loved the computer too ... All of my children (4) went to public schools, but actually were educated at home. ... The summer after he turned 10 I got 2 PS2's and he came alive again as we started playing a MMO called EQOA and he was such an awesome player I immediately got 2 more PS2's. We were Rocking 4 PS2's almost 24/7 for a cpl years. Then he sold our main accounts for $ 3,500 US and got his 1st pc and we started playing Wow when it came out. Again, he came alive !
He was a 4.0 average student since kindergarten and graduated college with an IT degree a year sooner than most. He is now working at an ISP as a Networking Tech.
Like I tell all parents, just got to keep kids challenged and let them find what they love to do.
All that to say ...I saw katana smile with the bubbles and just wanted to say ... I HAVE seen that smile in my own children. I hope soon both of you will hear her say mommy and daddy !!!!
Peace, Love & Hugs !
JTS
Thank you so much for sharing and your kind words - at the moment were trying to find that spark of interest in both of them - that little something that encourages them to speak and interact with my son I think it will be music, my daughter sports seems to be the way :) we will see either way.
Thanks again :)
Awww,this is really touching, thank you!
@krystle - your daughter is beautiful and I can't wait to see what her "super power" is going to be. My son was 2 when he took one of my hardcover books off the shelf. I nearly stopped him because I was afraid he was going to write in it. But with marker and paper in hand, he began looking at the letters and writing them perfectly on paper.
There are so many things that I can relate to... like when he decided to play hide and go seek, but didn't tell me about it - and fell asleep behind the floor-length curtains behind the couch. It was one of the worst, scariest moments of my life!
First of all.. Katana is a legendary name anyone can have.. Wow..!! My children gonna get all shocked when I'll tell them how I named them... :D :D :D
And doing such organized things at early age, to me it simply means that she's unique and truly different. My support to her advancements.. ^^
Aha thanks it still gets some funny looks sometimes but I think it just adds to her whole unique character now :)
Thanks i think Katana is an awesome name too :)
A common misconception about Autism is stupidity this is just so wrong my children are insanely smart sometimes too smart for their own good. They just have different priorities and are encouraged and interested by different things.
There really are no limits to what they can and will achieve :) thanks for your support :)
Aww I love these photos, she's stunning :)
She is, I know we're biased but we make pretty babies lol
Katana is beautiful, and looks like a loving little girl! I know that having a child on the spectrum is supremely challenging, but you seem to be doing a wonderful parenting job.
It definitely has it challenges I won't lie there are days when it feels like everything goes wrong - but the thing is it's the days where things go right where they she says a new word or asks for help rather than melting down.
I take the good with the bad and overall the good outweighs the bad tenfold :)
Thanks for sharing about your beautiful daughter @krystle. You and @ausbitbank are truly wonderful parents.
Thanks so much we try but she makes it worth all the hard work :)
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