Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) manifests itself differently for each person, but the first signs of the disorder usually emerge between 2 and 3 years of age. Coco Bradford, a now 5-year-old from St Ives, Cornwall, had been developing as usual and even spoke her first word when she was 26 months old.
Then, everything suddenly changed. Coco’s speech quickly disappeared completely, she stopped responding to her name, and stopped making eye contact.
“When we first were told Coco had autism we were heartbroken, I had already read so much about it and was praying it wouldn’t be that,” Coco’s mom, Rachel Bradford told The Daily Mail. “How could she possibly have autism when she developed normally, spoke, made eye contact, passed her two-year check easily.”
“She immediately started getting frustrated and life changed for us forever,” Bradford said.
The family couldn’t afford to send Coco to ABA therapy, which teaches new behaviour patterns through positive reinforcement, so older sister Chelsea Elcocks set up a fundraising page. Thanks to the generosity of friends, family, and strangers, Coco could finally get the vital therapy she needed. “Coco has been having ABA for only four months and the improvement has been phenomenal in every single part of her life,” Elcocks said.
Finally, after three long and painful years of silence, Coco shocked everyone two days before her fifth birthday by asking for ‘more toast, please.’
Mom happily shared the news in a Facebook post and wrote: “‘I want more toast please.’ This is Coco history being made, first five-word sentence ever, pretty relevant as it’s her 5th birthday in two days. Totally unprompted by the way.”
“It was a really magical moment,” Bradford said. “She looked so pleased with herself and was jumping up and down and just kept saying ‘I want more toast’.
Watch the amazing video below to see how far Coco’s come since starting her therapy.
Can you believe Coco finally spoke after being silent for three long years? Let us know what you think in the comments below, and please SHARE this amazing story on Facebook.
[Featured image credit: Rachel Bradford]