At Alum Creek’s “Fantasy of Lights”, my daughter Alyssa met Santa for the first time without freaking out. Normally, she has a severe phobia with Santa Claus for her entire life. I mean, Santa has always freaked her out to the point where she would have a major meltdown. So neither Lisa nor I knew fully well how she would do this time around. Alyssa was a bit nervous, but was game enough to sit on Santa’s lap. At first, Alyssa was a bit more interested with the basket of candy canes sitting next to her. Yet once Santa asked Alyssa what she wrote down on her list for what she’d like for Christmas, Alyssa was able to engage and converse back to him while smiling happily. Upon seeing how well she was doing, I sincerely started to tear up crying. This was one of those small victories you pray for as a parent. It was like feeling a pound of hope descend upon your body and being. I put my arm around Lisa because our daughter with high-functioning autism was managing to be a happy, “normal” little girl for the holidays.
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