As many of you know, my youngest daughter Reine was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) in October 2014. As we are still attempting to navigate our way through this whole process, one place has been instrumental in Reine’s diagnosing and recommendations for which specialist we see next and what we need to look into or try as we learn to navigate into Reine’s world and help her to navigate into ours….Kennedy Krieger Institute.
This is a blog post I wrote for Simply Reine. I wanted to share it here as well.
I CAN NOT DO THIS WITHOUT YOUR SUPPORT
I received an email about a month ago for something that I knew I HAD to be a part of. What I was not expecting was the solidarity of my family towards my decision. It has now turned into a family event complete with a team name….
Simply Reine will be taking part in Kennedy Krieger Institute’s 11th annual ROAR FOR AUTISM 5K Run / Fun Walk on April 26, 2015. Registration fees, sponsorships and donations will support autism research and treatment programs at Kennedy Krieger Institute. We chose to do the Fun Walk so that Reine could actually take part in the event and not watch from the side lines.
In case you did not know, Kennedy Krieger is where we go to for Reine’s diagnoses and treatments. You can not research autism without finding at least one study or reference made by Kennedy Krieger. They are in my opinion, they are one of the leading institutes in autism research and treatment.
They have given me guidance and recommendations for things that have helped me to begin to navigate into Reine’s world and to help her navigate into ours. I am not sure where my family would be without them. The difference I have seen in Reine in the last couple of months has been UNREAL. She is more at peace with herself and with us. Her stress and frustration levels are significantly lower than they were pre diagnosis. We are starting to understand her FINALLY. I can take her into stores and places with crowds and watch her truly enjoy herself and take part in the world around her. It is no longer so overwhelming to her. We are learning her needs and what we can do to help her to navigate into our world. None of this would be happening or even possible without Kennedy Krieger Institute and their AMAZING staff.
There will be VERY few times, if ever, I will ever ask you for anything. This is one of those times. Simply Reine has set a goal of $1000 to donate to ROAR FOR AUTISM. If we reach our goal, we will set another one and do our best to achieve it.
We need your help and support.
WE CAN NOT DO THIS WITHOUT YOU.
If you want to sponsor us, donate on our behalf, etc. I would be forever grateful. If you are going to be in the Baltimore area and want to join Simply Reine as we do the 5K Run / Fun Walk to support ROAR FOR AUTISM we would LOVE to have you on our team.
Click the following links if you want more information….
Simplicity Redesigned 