Autism and A Moment of Connection

It was a beautiful spring day at the park in 2012. Olivia was only three years old and we had just recently gotten her official Autism diagnosis.

She was running free not paying attention to anything.

Breeze in her hair, sun on her beautiful face, stimming her happy sound, “Eeeeee” stopping only to put her hand up and watch it turn in the sunlight. I am always running right behind her to keep her safe.

She makes a sudden stop, plops herself down, and starts inspecting these little yellow “flowers”. She touches and looks over every single inch of them.

I call out her name,  “Olivia…”  but she doesn’t acknowledge me. It’s only on the rare occasion that she will acknowledge me. She continues to be completely captivated by these little flowers.

I snap some photos of her inspecting the flowers and I put my phone back in my pocket and then it happens… she breaks from her obsession and looks right at me with the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen! I had her!

She was content and we were completely connected. She was mine and I was definitely hers.

I took my camera back out and snapped some pictures of this unexpected moment of connection and beauty.

As the wind blew and the sounds of children playing continued in the distance, she suddenly broke the connection and turned her focus back to the flowers and her lone world once again.

I felt really sad for a minute because I wanted so desperately to keep her beautiful gaze and smile. I always longed to connect with her on such a deep level.

However, she was truly happy and allowed me to be next to her enjoying the sun, the wind, and the beautiful yellow desert flowers.

Written by Laura Simzyk of Olivia’s Extraordinary Journey