April 29, 2014

The Fairy Path

My daughter considers anything smaller than a quarter a "treasure." She has a fascination with making collections and an insane ability to memorize just about any book or movie. She is silly, compassionate and overly dramatic. 

The beauty that Autistic children bring to our world is often overlooked. Our society is slowly starting to help accommodate the challenges that these children face. I am trying to be better about taking time to pick dandelions and "treasure" hunt with her. 

This series of pictures is from the day that I realized that M was "different" than other kids her age. The pattern around her playroom was a meticulously crafted "path for the fairies." It was another year and a half before she was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome or HFA (High Functioning Autism).









Does your child have a favorite activity or hobby? 
Feel free to post in the comment section below

45 comments:

  1. Your daughter is beautiful - thank you for sharing.

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  2. what a nice playroom. she looks like she has all the space she needs. I don't know much about Autism. Is it something they grow out of or is it life long?

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    1. Autism is not something you grow out of. As a parent, I am trying to be as proactive as possible to get her the therapy she needs. She works a lot with pragmatics- eye contact, reading social cues, how to carry on a conversation, etc.

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    2. Because you started working early on - M will have a lot of support in place - I love these pictures! I've been saving buttons for her to collect when Nonni sews...

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  3. My boys are all about Legos. They could sit and build ALL DAY LONG. It makes me happy, actually, because it's a zillion times better than playing video games or sitting in front of the tv.

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  4. That is one amazing fairy trail, I love her imagination. Right now our boys love being boys which means DESTROY everything and make mommy clean it up LoL .

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  5. What a great imagination! My son has RAD (reactive attachment disorder) which sometimes presents with autism like behaviors and he also loves his treasures! Right now he's really into drawing on rocks with markers and keeping them or giving them to me. I currently have a collection of about 20 different rocks, but since they say things like "I love you mom", I have no desire to part with them! :)

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  6. What a great imagination! My son has RAD (reactive attachment disorder) which sometimes presents with autism like behaviors and he also loves his treasures! Right now he's really into drawing on rocks with markers and keeping them or giving them to me. I currently have a collection of about 20 different rocks, but since they say things like "I love you mom", I have no desire to part with them! :)

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  7. A beautiful trail for a beautiful daughter! Thanks for sharing her journey

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  8. What a neat path for her fairies. They are lucky to have a sweet girl construct that just for them! MommaE at www.ourmilkshakes.com

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  9. I remember the fairy paths! It seems like yesterday!

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    1. I know! It goes by so fast! These were taken 2-8-12

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  10. I love how she is walking her little doll on the fairy path.

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  11. this is so cute, she did such a great job, such a fun place to play.

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  12. What a cutie! It's such a relief when we're able to relax and see the beauty in our kids.

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  13. My son loves filling his dump truck with everything in sight...and then hiding everything later on! Haha

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  14. Touching, indeed! Your photos gave me a much needed smile :)

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  15. Love the pictures! So wonderful that you captured this.

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  16. So sweet. When my son was that little he was obsessed with Thomas the train. Love that age.

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  17. Love the orderliness! Sweet T and I can get on board with her and her treasures. :)

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  18. She looks like she's having a blast! I love the pictures. :)

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  19. My daughter loves to play anything involving fairies. I sometimes worry that she's a little obsessive. But my niece plays right along with her and they love it.

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  20. The qualities you've highlighted here are really wonderful. She sounds like a special girl!

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  21. Your daughter is adorable! I love how imaginative children's minds are!

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  22. My youngest loves to play with his collection of Thomas the train engines. There are probably 100-1540. He can play with them for hours.

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  23. She's a cutie! Does she always make the same fairy path, or does she change it up?

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    1. These are from 2 years ago. She has moved on to other collections and sorting;)

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  24. How sweet is she! She is so beautiful. My son's imagination is awesome too - he makes up stories about his figures.

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  25. My oldest loves to color. She calls herself an artist. I like the path your child makes with her puzzle pieces.

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  26. Your daughter is so cute! My teen used to collect rocks. When I would wash her clothes there would always be a small treasure of rocks in her pockets.

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  27. What a cutie!! I love that she has such a fun imagination!!

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  28. My nephew has two favorites currently. LEGOs big time and also drawing. I'm happy to see he likes to be creative.

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  29. that looks like a fun game! She is adorable! Does she often play alone?

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  30. I see so many autistic kids that have such fine tuned senses produce some amazing things! I love her little mind discovering all things Fairy. What a sweetie.

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  31. What great imagination. I love her fairy path.

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  32. This is adorable and your daughter is equally adorable. :)

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  33. What an absolute doll! My oldest loves his LEGO and my youngest his trains.

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  34. What a cutie! She's so focused! Both of my kids can be found with their noses in books most of the time. They are (almost) 2 and 4. Other than that, my 4 year old is the great artist in the house!

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  35. What an amazing fairy path! My little brother is autistic/intellectually disabled. He used to arrange his dinosaurs according to the size and could remember all their scientific names, even though he couldn't pronounce them right. Or really speak until he was over 10 years old.

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  36. She is precious. My children love sports and video games.

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  37. My son - at only 3.5 - has only been diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder so far, but I can foresee that changing at some point. He also loves quoting movies and is completely obsessed with order. He would line up the alphabet the same way as the fairy path - only his would have to be in order from A to Z. And God forbid there's a letter missing...that's just cause for a MAJOR meltdown. :( Your little girl is beautiful!

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  38. HA this is what my living room looks like. My boys love to just make a mess for me. I love how focused she is being

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  39. She is so sweet, and what a cool path that she created!! My brother is severely autistic, though on the other end of the spectrum than your daughter. I have definitely had to change my ways at different points in life to help him enjoy the things that HE enjoys :)

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  40. I love her fairy path. My daughter loves books and my son cars and blocks.

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