Learn about Sage and this Web site

Who Is Sage?
My daughter Sage was diagnosed with High Functioning Autism when she was about 3 years old. Although we knew she was incredibly bright, she was not talking like other children her age. It took me a while to accept she was autistic, she simply didn't behave like other autistic children I grew up with. Over time and after many hours of research I came to realize that this was a spectrum disorder. Autism is something you don't take a blood test to diagnose, you simply have certain behaviors and characteristics which are attributed to autism. We were very fortunate that Sage is a High Functioning Autistic little girl; she has a shot at living independently, having friends, going to college - the world is her oyster. She is affectionate, has eye contact, laughs and plays and talks. She doesn't talk conversationally very much, but she does communicate verbally. Her speech continues to grow daily.

When Sage was 2 she was already writing out the alphabet, upper and lowercase, with both hands. She could also write her name out - how could this little girl be autistic?? At around three years old she would take apart electronics and put them back together again as well as drawing fractional pie charts. Sage had her own PC at age 1.8. She finished Play Station games before she was 4. I could go on and on about how amazing my little girl is.

She loves school and riding the school bus. Her favorite things to do are playing with her Thomas the Tank Engine Trains, monster trucks, using her computer, bowling, SWIMMING, drawing school buses and playing with her brother Seven. I forgot to mention chocolate! Sage LOVES chocolate! Sage has recently discovered pink and skirts. She's a TOTAL cloth hound and really enjoys shopping! I have no clue where she gets this from as I'm certainly not like this :) but it's very cool. She puts together some wonderful outfits that really show off her personality.

How This Site Started
One of my hobbies is beading and making jewelry. I didn't know about autism awareness bracelets until the middle of 2005 while bead hunting on EBay and thought what a wonderful, unique idea. What a fun project and a way to give back the the Autism Foundation if I were to make these bracelets. They're slow coming but each one is a beautiful treasure that will remind you of Sage or another special person in your life diagnosed with autism.

10% of all profits will go to the Autism Society of America Foundation. Although there is no cure, no cause known, it is important that the research in this area continues through donations and support. There are many ways you can get involved, please look at the link above if you are interested.

Sage Today
"Sagey Poo" is now in third Grade. Her teacher said she didn't regress over the summer yet again and was right on track with her education. She's now riding the *big girl bus* which was a very big deal to her. To date, because Sage is so bright, she has managed to stay in a "regular" classroom. She is still classified by the state as a special needs student however. Regardless of the label or her autism, Sage is a very beautiful little girl, filled with curiosity about the world around her. Her speech continues to grow daily as well as all her academics. She is now in piano lessons and doing extremely well!