I agree 100% about those goddamn autism, puzzle piece, good human, blah blah shirts.
They will dress her like that forever, because when she acts up in public people will see the shirt.
Not to mention, thats all Abbie is to them- autism. No identity, just autism and a walking billboard for FA.
In other news, my grandson ( age 3.5) who was completely non-verbal a year ago is simply killing it with his words and signs. He is in speech twice a week, and not using a device. Our first therapist was a bust- told us to just get the device immediately because he'll never verbalize, even though at that point he had already begun speaking. We dumped her. Anyway, our new therapist, who we LOVE, said no device yet, he's trying to speak and picks up signs immediately, so lets focus on it. We say the word as we sign it to him, and he does the same. (and he says dozens of other words with no signs, like all the colors, animals, foods, etc.) He has developed a sudden obsession with popcorn lately. So its kind of like Abbie and "donut" right now. He walks around all day saying and signing popcorn. But then, in my head I automatically hear Abbies old iPad saying
"Popcorn. Pretzels. Nature Valley Bar."