My god-daughter Madyson... on the CNN website...

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-7545#

This is something very serious and we should all be very aware...


Written by her Madyson's mother, Ashley:

Everything that I am able to write, I know a lot of you have heard and experienced the story before... but this is the story of Mady.
My daughter Madyson is 7 years old and has autism. She was a perfect baby, walked and talked early, did everything wonderful!!
But then we "lost" her when she was about 20 months old. We lost her to the dark dark place called autism. Mady quit talking and looking at us. She went further and further in this new world. I promised her, as her mother, that I will bring her back to me. I started to do research online and everything I read started to make sense. All the doctors I took her to, just looked at me like I was a crazy person and I had no idea what I was talking about!! Well, after different doctors and tests, we learned that Mady was on the spectrum. We started her in pre-school at age 3, each year we would see some progress. Now she is 7 and she is progressing so much. She is talking more, but she only repeats what we say. But, I just am so glad to hear that sweet little voice again!! She is only getting to the point that she will tell you what she wants in one word. She will tell me "eat" but it is my job to figure out what she wants to eat! I am hoping that one day I will be able to carry on a conversation with my sweet little girl.
Even though Mady can not say much, she is up to date with all of the typical girls her age. She loves Hannah Montana and is a computer genius! She loves music and I am looking into music lessons for her in my area. I am the type of mom that takes her places. I keep her busy with all types of projects. She loves to shop and dress up like a diva (she gets it from my mom). I want her to be around the typical kids, so she can learn social skills from them. I know that a lot of you can relate with my story, so my advice is to keep on being the best parents and remember that we can fight this together as a team.