Page 132 - South Mississippi Living - April, 2019

HEALTHY LIVING understanding
TJust Different, Not Less
he month of April is World Autism Month, which aims to increase global understanding and acceptance of people with autism. This cause is especially close to Stephanie Dodd’s heart because her daughter Marleigh was diagnosed with autism at an early age.
“Marleigh’s pediatrician noticed
that she wasn’t meeting her baby milestones and sent us to a specialist,” Stephanie recalled. “She was officially diagnosed around age five.”
Autism is diagnosed on a spectrum, meaning that a diagnosis can range from non-verbal to high functioning and include multiple degrees of autism in between. Marleigh falls somewhere in the middle of that spectrum, most notably exhibiting developmental delays.
“She is not like the typical 21year old,” her mother said. “She loves Build-a-Bear, cat videos and going to autism camp. The developmental delays that are associated with her autism prevent her from living a typical teenage life.”
Along with developmental delays, Marleigh also has a sensory processing disorder, which means that sounds
can be overwhelming. To combat
this, Marleigh wears headphones the majority of the time. “She also has some repetitive motions called
‘stimming’ that help her self-regulate her anxiety,” says Stephanie. “These motions produce a calming effect.”
Despite these obstacles, Marleigh
is a remarkable, loving and strong
girl. During her senior year, she
lost her father to cancer, as well as unexpectedly lost her best friend, who was in a wheelchair. “One night after that, we were remembering them and she asked, ‘Mom, Dad doesn’t have cancer anymore and CeCe isn’t in a wheelchair anymore, so when I go to Heaven, will I still have autism?’ I told her that autism is not like cancer —
it’s not a physical disability and it’s not something that God will need to ‘fix,’ it just makes you different. She replied, ‘Well, if it’s optional, I’ll keep it!’ I think that was the most rewarding thing for me as her mom.”
Marleigh’s philosophy is: “I would like for people to know that autism is not a sickness. It’s okay to be friends with someone who has autism. I’m just different, so don’t make fun of me if I do things differently.”
Stephanie and Marleigh Dodd
132 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • April 2019
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story by Kelsey Sunderman-Foster
photo courtesy of Stephanie Dodd
Autism Speaks
www.autismspeaks.org
Autism Society
www.autism-society.org