I’m Thankful For You: The Child Who Defends My Daughter
This December I want to thank and honor the one child that defends my autistic daughter in school. I want you to know that I hear the positive things you are doing. I know you are sticking up for my daughter. And I can never thank you enough.
My daughter Lillian was first diagnosed with autism when she was four years old. I had a hard time trusting this diagnosis because there wasn’t much testing done at all. We went the next few years without much help until Lillian was in second grade. She was still struggling socially and meltdowns were increasing, among other problems.
We finally decided to get her fully tested in the spring of second grade. She went and played for four hours with an agency and we filled out numerous forms charting behaviors. She was given many tests and the results came back the same as they did when she was four. She was autistic and I was finally convinced.
Today, Lillian is in fourth grade and I want to thank the one child in my daughter’s class that sticks up for her.
Dear sweet child,
There aren’t many kids in that class that have nice things to say about my daughter. But you, you are wonderful.
I want to thank your parents for showing you to accept differences in others. I may not know your parents well, but I want to thank them too.
You see, because of my daughter’s autism, she has a VERY hard time socially. She can not deal with conflict, although we are working on it.
She can not regulate her emotions and often has meltdowns in class.
She has one great friend who I am also thankful for, but unfortunately she is not in the same class this year. My daughter doesn’t really have anyone on her team to help her.
But when she fell out of her chair the other day and the entire class laughed at her, you told them that wasn’t right. That she could have been hurt and it wasn’t nice to laugh. You are not one of the two children who received my daughter’s name for secret Santa and handed it back to the teacher in front of her saying you didn’t want her.
You are not the one giving dirty looks to her when she has a meltdown. You are not the one making fun of her autism and telling her she is stupid because of it. You are not the one that is lying to the teacher, saying my daughter is using inappropriate words when she is not. You are not the one who punched her in the throat.
Instead, you are the one person who came to her aid to see if she was OK. You gave her a friendly smile and a pat on the back.
I just want you to know that I hear the positive things you are doing. I know you are sticking up for my daughter. I know you are being friendly to her when she has no one to play with.
And I thank you. I wish you could know how much that really means to me. And how much it means to my daughter.
One of these days, I hope to get the chance to thank you in person, and maybe even your parents. Great things are going to come for you child, for you are so kind.
Thank you,
Lillian’s mom
(This article was submitted by Jenn Karboski is part of Cooper’s, ‘I’m Thankful For You’ Campaign. Jenn’s daughter Lillian was diagnosed at age four with Autism. She shares their journey on the Facebook page, Autism and Lillian: A Girl’s Journey and hopes to bring more awareness and acceptance to girls on the spectrum.
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