“It's the imperfections that make something beautiful…”
Animation by Erik Carter / Courtesy of Bob Ross Inc.
“It's the imperfections that make something beautiful, that's what makes it different and unique from everything else.”
Bob Ross
When I think about this quote, I know that I can smile again. It was a very hard road in the beginning for me. On May 1, 1999, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Julianne. At 18 months, Julianne stopped speaking and would just stare at people and objects. By the age of 2, she was diagnosed with Developmental Disability. The specific diagnoses weren’t known at the time since she was so young. As a parent, I was hurt, alone, and felt very discouraged. When I held my daughter, I would always say, “Look into my eyes, what do I see? I would see my daughter staring back at me.” I would tell Julianne that I love her and I know that she is in there and mommy will help her. Mommy is going to fight to help you and I know that you will be somebody in life. I believe in you and you are my precious gift from God.
Julianne went to early intervention and she began to develop her speech. I would often play music for her so that she could remain calm because she was aggressive. She loved to pretend play so much that she started echoing everything that people said. I was so happy that she was finally coming out of her shell.
On May 15, 2003, I gave birth to a bouncing baby boy that I named Joshua. I chose this name for two reasons: biblically and because the speech therapist that helped Julianne was named Joshua. That same year, Julianne was re-evaluated and was diagnosed with Autism (high functioning). I was told by an Autism itinerant that my daughter was going to be mute and never be able to live a successful life. You see some people will do anything to bring others down. My spiritual foundation did not allow me to believe that and I decided to do something about it.
I enrolled Julianne in a Magnet elementary program against the recommendations of her Individual Education Plan team. I met with the Principal and she loved the fact that I wanted the best for my daughter and she told me to give her a year and that I would see the results. Julianne developed her passion to play the violin and flourished as a visual learner. She presented to her class and everyone was so proud of the accomplishments that she made in a short time. That same Principal told me to continue to advocate for my daughter’s success and never let anyone discourage me again.
Julianne went on to follow her passion by taking more dance and drama classes. She performed at the Chicago Bulls home games as a Junior Luvabull. In her senior year of high school, Julianne went to Europe with her class and graduated with honors.
Today, Julianne has an Associate degree in Arts and Humanities, currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Art History, and working part-time. I want to share this with you so that you know that I do understand what you are going through. So many positive people in my life encouraged me to be an advocate for my child, now is the time that I pay it forward to helping you do the same. There are so many diverse learners out here and they deserve the respect and acceptance as human beings.
