David came to us as a 3-month-old baby through the foster care system. When in the foster care system, it was obvious that biological mom was not going to be able to care for David and his older sibling. There was discussion of separating the boys between maternal and paternal grandparents. Their maternal grandparents did not want them to be separated and filed for kinship placement of David and his older brother. The maternal grandparents were older and realized that after 3 years as a foster placement, David and his brother were very bonded to our family. They asked us to continue to raise the children. After a year of no contact with biological parents, we filed for a private adoption and added David and his brother permanently to our home.
David had many health problems. As school approached, we realized David struggled with milestones and social skills. We had David complete a psychological exam and they flagged him for possible autism and ADHD. At that time, we chose not to continue with the testing for autism. As he entered middle school, those social concerns began to become a problem for David and his schooling. He did not do well in groups. He needed routine. Navigating different classrooms was a challenge. He struggled to engage in social interactions with peers. We reached out and completed a psychological exam with Harbor Behavioral and he was diagnosed with ASD, Asperger’s Syndrome.
School continues to be a struggle for David, but he is becoming more involved in extracurricular activities. He participates in the Henry County Special Olympics and engages in sports. He has an interest in cooking and would like to attend a camp. As a family, we cannot just have anyone babysit David, he has some needs that require supervision and special attention. He is rigid in his thoughts, impulsive in his actions, and needs someone trained and dependable to watch him when we are unavailable. We applied for respite care services at Kaitlyn’s Cottage, and he was accepted. This allows for safe socialization with people who are trained to care for David’s needs. He gets excited to go to Kaitlyn’s Cottage and we can feel good knowing he’s safe.
We have a large family and respite care can become expensive, so we reached out to Avenues for Autism for assistance through their Suzanne Tyner Autism Assistance Fund. Thankfully, we were awarded funding and David could continue services and enroll in some additional classes.
We are so blessed to have received the funds. David loves the staff and friends he made at Kaitlyn’s Cottage, and I love knowing he is with trained professionals and is safe and having fun! He has attended cooking classes, and an adventure camp. David told me the second time he went to Kaitlyn’s Cottage that he loved it because “he could just be himself and everyone was okay with that.” This made my heart happy and sad. I know that the world is not always ready for, or kind, to my treasure (David) and we have been blessed to find a place that has many unique treasures and abilities! Thank you, Avenues for Autism and Kaitlyn’s Cottage, for making this possible for David and us.
Story by Michelle Rose (mother of David Rose, age 13).
