When our daughter was an infant, we had no idea what awaited us. Among the many signs we didn’t know were of significance, was the one time, when she was four months old, when she reacted to something with squeals of delight, and facial expressions of happiness we’d not seen before.

Our daughter was a very quiet baby from her first day. Looking back, the things that made her cry were sensory in nature. She didn’t cry because she was hungry or because her diaper was soiled. She’d cry when her diaper wasn’t on or what she ate didn’t agree. During her awake time, she was quiet, impassive but observant, but definitely not engaged.

One day, when she was four months old, I sat her on my lap and put on The Cat In The Hat CD I had just bought. She squealed as soon as the cat appeared on the screen upon the start of its moving image and sound. That moment in time marked the beginning of an obsessive love affair with visual media; one that would become both blessing and curse during the course of our parenting.

Her Autism demanded more cartoons, more animated movies, to the exclusion of all else. Everything we needed to achieve, teach, revolved around that one obsessive interest.

The circle is closing today. Our now sixteen year old daughter has just started her junior year at college as a fine arts major. Her area of concentration? Animation, of course!

I’m so proud of you, my Girly!