A view in the Literal Life....and the confidence it brings.

My name is Tracey Reichard and I wanted to share a little about my daughter, Natalie. She was diagnosed with high functioning autism a few years ago. My Aunt (who is a multi-handicapped teacher), had always wondered if Nat (at a very young age) was Asperger's or high functioning. Well, anyways, I wanted to share a story about her that happened recently. As many of you already know, so many of our kids are extremely "black and white" in life. Natalie has always been a "by the book" girl. She is being brought up in a Christian home. We try to teach our kids about life the way Jesus would live. So anyways, she went to school last week and had to watch a movie in French class. The movie had subtitles and was rated PG-13. ( I had no idea she was watching a movie in class.) When class had finished for the day, she approached the teacher of the class. She said to her, "excuse me, I don't mean to be rude, but why are you allowing us to watch a movie with cuss words? She says, "I am a Christian and I don't like to be exposed to this kind of language." (by the way, the movie had the "F" word in it!) The teacher was a little distressed to say the least. She apologized for offending her and also called me. The school policy is being looked at now as well.

I just wanted to share this because of how proud I am of my daughter. As she grows each year I see a confidence that I didn’t even have in school. She stands up for what she believes in and she likes what she sees. I am thankful for my daughter and have grown to love her for who she is. (So I guess that means I have grown up, too!)

Tracey Reichard/Mother
Natalie Reichard/ Age 13