Our daughter Leah Avery was diagnosed as autistic when she was 3 Years old
at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. Let's rewind a bit. Looking back, I
questioned an autism diagnosis for her as young as 6 months old. We noticed a
lot of oral aversions and delays, clothing sensitivities, noise sensitivities,
and sensory overloaded meltdown all from a very young age. We were consistently
told by our pediatrician at that time not to worry (we weren’t worried in the
first place). We were told "There is no way Leah is autistic she looks at
me when I enter the room, or she smiles at me, or she talks to me". We
were dismissed very early on. Leah was ahead of "typical" infants
from a young age. Born at only 3 pounds and 5 ounces, Leah only needed medical
support feeding and growing. She came home from the hospital at 3 pounds 11
ounces. She walked by 9 months, and she was potty trained at 13 months (she
then had a severe GI infection and didn't potty train again until after 3) and
spoke full sentences clearly by 2 years old. She has always been a fighter and
a strong kiddo from the very start. Fast forward a bit more now. We moved from
Minnesota to Wisconsin and had a new pediatrician. When I brought up some of
the behaviors, we noticed in Leah we were referred to get an evaluation
completed. We were told "I don't think she has autism but it’s a good idea
to get her evaluated". Leah was struggling in childcare and play with her
twin brother at home. We were so blessed to receive an acceptance to Mayo
Clinic for a full evaluation. We were at Mayo for 4 days. I went into the
appointments also thinking "I don’t think it is autism, but something must
be going on". We first met with the psych team and over the next couple
days we had a psych fellow follow us to all of our appointments so they could
see how Leah responded and behaved. Now, we have some very funny stories on how
Leah completed or lacked there of the testing, but we walked into the diagnosis
appointment thinking "If she doesn’t have autism, I don’t know what is
going on". We were so confident by the end that we finally had answers, we
were excited for the final appointment. I will never forget though the life
changing news "We are very confident in an autism diagnosis for
Leah". I will never forget my husband’s face as we looked at each other
smiling. See, now we can help her, now we have answers, now we can move
forward. I repeat, now we can help her. We were so lost for so long. We were
scared and confused. Now we can move forward with love and enjoyment in this
new chapter. Now, please, with everything you have, do not get this mistaken as
if I thought it would be easy or I wasn't still scared. I was. However, I was
also relieved. Leah had a fantastic team ready to help her. We left that
appointment already set up with more help back home. We left as prepared as we could
to face the challenges ahead at home and all the beauty to come.

Throughout the years Leah has received feeding, occupational therapy,
physical therapy, speech therapy, and community support services. Leah has
struggled with so much; however, she has also overcome so much! It is not
always easy for her or us. However, the hard times do not compare when we see
how successful she has become. I contribute a lot of that to her early
intervention and all of the wonderful support and experts that have helped us
along the way.

Fast forward a bit more here. Leah is currently a 9-year-old brilliant,
happy, caring, selfless, funny little girl. She has overcome so much. We
recently went back to Mayo for some more testing and found out right after Leah
turned 8 that she is also exceptionally gifted. When we left this appointment
at Mayo I remember being told "sometimes being this gifted isn't always a
gift". I had no idea what that meant until we started researching and
trying to advocate for her in different ways now that it is very hard to
satisfy her desire to learn and some of her interests. This has brought on a
whole set of new challenges for her and us that we are working through as well.
Leah enjoys school and her close friends. She has a 3D printer she loves to
make new items on. She loves playing hockey and volunteering. She has a couple
My Little Libraries in town that she loves to operate and run. She is excited
for this adventure and is helping run this shop! This little girl has a lot
going on and a lot to look forward to!

Leah has taught us more than we could ever teach ourselves. I tear up when I
say this because it is so true. The grace, joy, laughter, strength, and
resilience that this little girl has is a true blessing that we get to learn
from every day.

I will not go into Leah's current struggles on here as she is getting older
and deserves for some things to still be private. If you would like to connect
and need support, we are happy to discuss and share privately as Leah chooses.
Please know it is not always easy and that is okay! We have those hard times
too. The hard times make us stronger. And when you are in the thick of it and
you are having a difficult time. We are here for you! You are raising a very
special blessing too and it can be hard, really hard. But we are here to help
support you and encourage you on this journey. Your child is lucky to have you
and we will help you fight for the joyful times. There can be so many! The joy,
laughter, strength, it is all there, and we are happy you get to experience it
too.