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She's so proud of the car she made.

Last week we met with Cordy's preschool teachers for the standard parent-teacher conference. They told us they were so impressed with the progress she has made at school, and beamed about what a different child she is now. She is responding to her therapy and coping better than ever. Where she used to have three or four major meltdowns a week, she now has one or two a month, at most.

We've noticed the changes as well. We had a very busy weekend filled with outings that had the potential to upset Cordy. On Saturday, we went to the Home & Garden show to get some ideas for a patio. It was crowded, it was noisy, and people tried to talk to Cordy. In the past, this would send her into an epic meltdown. But my husband and I explained where we were going ahead of time, and let her know what to expect. She was in good spirits when we arrived, and we hoped that it would continue. After about 30 minutes, she got "wiggly" in the stroller. I worried that the sensory overload was too much for her, but then she told us she was hungry. Ah! OK, that's something we can do something about!

But before we made it to the food, we passed a series of tables where normal speech was drowned out by the sounds of hammering. The Home Depot had set up a children's workshop area, where kids could put on an apron and build a model boat or racecar. I thought the cacophony would bother Cordy, but instead her eyes widened and she smiled. "Go over there?" she asked.

"You want to build a racecar?" I asked her.

"Yes!" she squealed. We got her outfitted in an apron, collected a wooden racecar kit, and found an open space at a table. My husband helped her put it together while I held Mira. The two of them took turns hammering - she would usually bend the nail, and my husband would hammer it back into shape. Once it was put together, she showed off her new racecar to everyone around her. She happily enjoyed the show with her racecar in her hand. After three hours there, she started to tire, making shrieking noises and becoming more difficult to deal with. It was clearly time to go, but we were so impressed that she had held it together for that long.

Today, we had to do a little shopping, going from one store to another. In the past, Cordy had a lot of problems with transitioning. Again, a meltdown was pretty standard. But while she did protest and stomp her feet each time, and sat down in one store, she never completely lost control, and we were able to go to and from the car without carrying her, and without any crying and screaming. We were so proud of her, we took her out for ice cream. She waited in line for her ice cream, then carried her bowl of blue (cotton candy) ice cream to the table, sat down, and started eating quietly. When we got home, we all went for a walk, and for the first time Cordy didn't try to run into the street or run away from us.

It's such a relief to be out in public without people staring at my daughter because of her behavior. I feel like we can go out more often now thanks to this progress, and I'm amazed at how hard Cordy tries every day to fight her autism. She doesn't want to have a screaming, crying meltdown - she's a gentle, extremely loving child who wants to make us happy. This weekend really made me realize just how far she's come in such a short amount of time.

^{Disney Family does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Call your doctor regarding any medical condition. Never disregard your doctor's advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on the Disney Family site.}