Friday, June 6, 2014

meet Abby

I haven’t spoken much about our niece Abby, but this sweet girl is very much a part of our lives. She is our oldest niece; she turns ten in October. She and her parents moved in with my in-laws when she was eighteen months-old. They actually live right across the street from us :)

Abby is on the autism spectrum. Using official terms, she has “pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified.” Abby also has petite mal seizures, which are infrequent, and she does not lose consciousness.

Abby goes to school five days a week. She is in “Autistic Support” with five other children from kindergarten through fifth grade. There are other autistic classrooms in the school, and they are divided up based on how the children interact with one another. Abby has a full-time TSS (Therapeutic Staff Support), Molly, who works with her at school and also does home visits. At school, some of the children in her class are reading and doing math, but Abby is working on her letters, numbers, and words. She would benefit from occupational therapy—such as learning how to dress herself or do everyday tasks—but her classroom is more academically inclined. She has good receptive language—she understands directions and simple conversations. But her expressive language is lacking, she can only say one to two words at a time.

Abby has a happy disposition, and almost always has a smile on her face. She loves  being around people, other kids, and babies—and is always reaching out to touch them.

 
She has a normal appetite and is only on medication for her epilepsy.

Horseback riding has quickly become one of her favorite activities. It is a sensory therapy for her. Abby really enjoys being outside, wading in the pool, and swinging on the swingset. She has an iPad, but hasn’t yet figured out how to play games independently. Her very favorite thing to do is to watch videos of people playing musical instruments, singing, and really doing any fun activity: swinging, climbing the monkey bars, bouncing, etc. She could watch YouTube for hours.

We have learned and are continuing to learn so much from Abby. It’s really fascinating to watch Nolan interact with her because he treats her just like every other kid. :)

To connect with us further, or to learn more about Abagail, feel free to email me at racheljulia31@gmail.com.

Linking up with Kelly’s Korner to share about special needs children.

4 comments:

  1. Thank you soo much rachel for posting about my sweet little girl. I think God gave us her for the whole family to learn patience etc.

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  2. These children sure do teach us a lot, don't they?!? (stopping over from the Linky at Kelly's Korner!)

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  3. My niece is 10 and has PDD-NOS too! She is very much like Abby! Because of having Julia in my life I was able to see the signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder in my own son from 11 months old. He is now 3 and has been diagnosed with Asperger's. He is doing great and we're so blessed to have him in our lives!

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  4. She is so sweet. What a great gift to your family!

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Thank you so much for your comments! I enjoy reading each one!

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