In the Beginning -- story by Mary Ellen, mother of girl

Our journey began in July, 1997.  We welcomed our third child Breanna into the world.  Bree had a head full of curly brown hair and eyes as bright as diamonds.  Gradually, life began to change and become more challenged and confusing.  There were many sleepless nights.  Meltdowns galore and developmental delays.  Sitting up wasn't happening, then no crawling, speech was very limited and walking over a year delayed.  Although we noticed the delays, our pediatrician chose the wait and see approach.

By age 3, speech was repetitive and consisted mainly of Jargon - no expressive language.  Taking her out in pubic was non-existent due to the meltdowns experienced due to outside stimuli.  Our life as a family was tense and strained. We needed help, but didn't know where to turn.  Music was her only relief from the extremely upsetting world she lived in.

After a failed speech screening and play based evaluation,  our school district recommended Early Childhood Education.  She began at age 3 1/2 receiving speech and occupational therapy. With intense therapy, we started to see some improvement in communication and behavior.

At age 5 she received an Autism diagnosis from the University of Chicago and at age 6 began her elementary school years mainstreamed with a one-on-one aide.  For the next 9 years, she continued to be mainstreamed with a one-on-one aide.  She also began receiving therapy to deal with anxiety and OCD.  Our journey only just begun....