My daughter Rachel was diagnosed with Autism about 15 years ago. This was long before it was so widely discussed and there were no special classes in school for her to attend. They had some types of classes for disabled children, but not for autism in particular. It was a very difficult time. My husband traveled much of the time and my older daughter (whom we now know has Aspergers), was at home, so I was alone to deal with this incredibly difficult child.

I have always loved scrapbooking and was still trying to do this as often as I could. But not until we got some help in the home was I able to find much time. I went to a Creative Memories beginning class and I was hooked. My local scrapbook store had a cropping room and I spent as much time there as I could. As I began to go back through the years I had missed, I was able to see Rachel in a new light. As difficult as she could still be, I could see that some issues had been resolved, or at least, greatly improved. I could see her as the loving child that wanted and needed my time and energy. It was actually very eye-opening to see her in her day-to-day struggles and triumphs. I had more patience with her and we were able to show her therapists, through the scrapbooks, what she was capable of doing and where she went each time we had an IEP (Independent Education Plan) or other meeting. They could see her as a much more functional child and were willing to work with her more diligently.

As time passed she started looking at the books I had completed. We used to sit and I would talk about what she was seeing on the page, places we had gone, people we knew, holidays, etc. She just sat there with little emotion; but she was still and I was pretty sure she was picking up on what I was talking about. As years passed she would sit alone on the couch and look at the books by the hour. I wondered if much was getting through, but she was quiet and seemed happy.

All this time, school was still a struggle. I had been told when Rachel was 5 that she was "uneducatable" and would never learn to read. That her highest hope was to learn to sort something by color. I refused to give up on her. I could see through my many scrapbooks that progress was being made. I pressed for her to be in higher functioning classes, even though her speech was, and still is, very poor. I knew she had an idea of what was going on. In 3rd grade, after fighting all the time with the district, I was able to get her an audio trainer (they are very common now, but back then no one used them). On the first day of wearing one, she raised her hand when the teacher asked who was buying lunch. This was the first time she had ever responded to a group question. It was a miracle and her aid at the time broke into tears at the sight. My resolve was even stronger then. I was sure Rachel was in there somewhere and I was going to fight to get her out.

Rachel still spent time looking at all the scrapbooks, but now she would say something about what she was looking at. She would ask to go back to fun places. Rachel no longer threw huge temper tantrums when we left Hawaii. She could see through the scrapbooks that we would come back. Travel was no longer a scary venture. It was fun. She could see that sitting in restaurants was a doable thing. Heck, dessert even came with the meal! I then noticed that her reading was finally coming through. All those hours I had spent sitting up in her room reading to her and studying with her at the kitchen table were finally paying off. Now Rachel can read all the journaling that I put in my books! It is amazing. She knows everyone in our family, even relatives that she only sees every 5 or 6 years. She can remember so much more about the world around her. We have even taken her to Europe, Australia, and around much of our country. She is now able to understand history, the explorers, and maps so much better.



Rachel is now 18 and we are nearing another milestone – the end of high school. I don't know what the future will hold for a child at a 2nd/3rd grade education level. But she can do basic math, read, even for pleasure, and function pretty well in the world. She can be independent and stay home alone, so we still have high hopes. I think without scrapbooking I would never have had the resolve that I do with Rachel. I know that her teachers and therapists would not have put in the time and effort either. We have taken pictures of the good and the bad (everyone needs a picture of their kid throwing a HUGE temper tantrum). This is Rachel's life. Not the life we imagined when she was born, but she is one of the happiest people we know. And, still, her favorite activity is to sit and look at scrapbooks!