By Alison Sherwood
Our daughter, Hannah, was diagnosed just before she turned 3 years old and has been diagnosed for 3 years now. It was known from birth that something just 'wasn't quite right'.
Sometimes we only hear the negatives of the condition, what it is and what it causes, so instead, let me tell you about some of the positives.
Having Hannah in our lives (Mum, Dad and her 11-year-old sister Caitlin), completely changed the way we look at the world. It’s taught us exactly what is important in life, and also shown us so much support from family and the friends who have stuck by us. We have also made some amazing new family friends through Hannah.
Hannah is nonverbal. Yes, that can be a negative, but it's also shown us how we can communicate with no words. Hannah used a picture exchange first of all, but then, being her cheeky self, wondered why she should do sentences when she had only ever had to get one picture! We have moved on to Makaton (sign language), and Hannah is picking up a few signs, especially the ones for food.......!
There's not a lot of eye contact involved with Hannah, but when she does do it, you get lost in her little eyes and pleading face as you know she's looking at you wanting something that is important to her.
We don't need the words to know that Hannah loves us. The smile on her face when she sees us after a day at school, the run and jump into our arms when we've been out, the snuggles we share on the sofa, they're all the signs that we need.
Milestones aren't always met when they should be, or sometimes even close to when they should be. However, every single little achievement that is made, feels amazing for us and our little ones. I cant even put into words how proud we feel when a moment like that happens.
Life changed for Hannah’s sibling Caitlin. Of course there are negatives for her, but she also shares a lot of positives. Hannah looks up to Caitlin. Her name is the only word that Hannah has consistently said for over a year (not sure if that's always a good thing for caitlin who can be on demand a lot then!).
Caitlin is the first to stick up for her sister when others are not being as nice as they should be. She loves trying to help teach Hannah new things, such as the alphabet or colours, and will sit for as long as Hannah allows. Caitlin loves learning the Makaton also and being able to communicate with Hannah in that special way.
Caitlin and Hannah enjoy music together, play parks, toys, watching TV snuggled up together, building sandcastles (or knocking down sometimes in Hannahs case!) just to name a few things. They always say 'if you want to know how to treat a person with special needs, ask their sibling'. This is definitely the case. We are so lucky to have Caitlin as Hannahs sister.
Others would look at our life and think it’s not normal, but this is our normal and we wouldn't have it any other way. We have been so blessed with having Hannah in our lives. There will always be the negatives, it’s just part of the journey we are now on, but there are so many positives and rewarding moments too.