When Briana Blankenship heard her nonverbal 5-year-old daughter say her first word ever, she grabbed her phone to film the momentous event and then broke down in tears.
Ugly crying probably never felt so good!
Hearing your child say their very first word is a pretty big deal for most parents. But for Briana, it took on a whole new level of special, especially since her daughter, Taylor, has a nonverbal form of autism.
“I am ugly crying in the McDonald’s parking lot and the employees probably think I’m crazy.”
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Along with the now-viral video she shared on Facebook, mom Briana explained:
“For those of you that don’t know. Taylor is 5 and has nonverbal autism. She has NEVER said a word. EVER.”
She had basically accepted that she would never hear her daughter’s voice.
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By all counts, Taylor was a “happy, chunky, loving baby” who progressed rather quickly.
She was already walking about the time she was 10 months old.
But when she was around 15 months, a family member commented that the girl’s compulsion to constantly spin around in circles wasn’t “normal.” Naturally, Briana was offended at the suggestion that something was “wrong” with her baby!
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By age 2, however, Taylor had yet to develop any speech.
“She would hum, jabber, and squeal but she wouldn’t mimic sounds and she wouldn’t try to form words. Our attempts of teaching her sign language were met with frustration meltdowns or complete disinterest from Taylor.”
Doctors assured Taylor and her husband that “kids have their own timeline and Taylor’s timeline was just different.”
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It wasn’t until between the ages of 3 and 4 that the “happy, affectionate child” who “didn’t shy away from holding your hand or asking for a hug (in her own way)” was finally diagnosed with autism.
Even without speaking words, the sweet girl was still able to commute in other ways.
“We found out she actually has a knack for letters and numbers and can do the alphabet by herself with the use of magnets. She’s also great at spelling. We started to feel hope again seeing her progress at school.”
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Taylor carries an iPad with her wherever she goes, which she uses to communicate with a software program called LAMP. She also attends gymnastics class, which mom says “has helped her stop her tiptoe walking that a lot of kids with Autism do.”
It was when Briana and Taylor were on their way to gymnastics class that the unthinkable happened.
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They were running late, so Briana went to the closest drive-thru to grab a quick snack. The family rarely eats fast food, so when Taylor saw that she was about to get some french fries, she got very excited and started giggling in the back seat.
“That’s when I heard her say it. I whipped my head around and asked ‘Did you just say Momma?’ and she looked at me and said it again.”
Briana was so excited, she put the car in park right in the middle of the drive-thru, then grabbed her phone to record the momentous event.
“I’m pretty sure I held up the drive thru line but there was no way I wasn’t getting proof of this. I can’t explain how unbelievably grateful and ecstatic I am right now. #AutismAwareness #BigWin”
Briana called her husband and mother but didn’t have any time before class to tell anyone else. So, she posted the video to Facebook and tagged family members. That’s when all the messages of support from strangers came flooding in!
“We have had so many messages from people that we are giving them hope for their loved ones, or that we are making them feel less alone in the daily battles of parenting a nonverbal child. It has also opened up the conversation for many people.”
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Watch Taylor say her very first word in the video below.
Too bad it wasn’t “french fries” – she would’ve been set for life at the big yellow arches!
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