María's Story

My name is María Avina, and I am a mother of twin boys, Antonio and Rafael Avina.  I am a single parent, and we live in Thornton, Colorado.  We are also very fortunate to have my mother Beatriz Ortiz living with us. Antonio was the first born of the twins, followed by his brother Rafael. Interestingly enough, they do not share the same birth date or Zodiac sign, because Rafael was born after midnight.

Antonio enjoys watching videos, listening to music, swimming, going for car rides and being with his family on outings.  Rafael enjoys watching documentary’s, science, sharks, swimming and being with his friends.  We are a very close family with many extended family members.  I am very proud of both my sons. I work full-time, so I try to make every moment count.  I really enjoy being with my children, shopping, gardening, decorating, going to movies and going out to eat with my family and friends.

This twin pregnancy was my first, and  fortunately I did not experience any difficulties.  The twins were born one week early. Four days after Antonio’s birth he started having seizures and had to be hospitalized. He was very ill for a long time, but bounced back. He continued having gran mal seizures until about one year ago, and he is now 11 years old. Antonio always lagged a little being his brother in terms of developmental milestones, but reached all of them with the exception of developing meaningful verbal skills and being potty trained. To date, he  has not yet reached those milestones. When Antonio was 2 1/2,   I mentioned to our pediatrician that he was not speaking, and yet Rafael was beginning to say his first words and even beginning to speak in sentences.The pediatrician assured me that all was fine and that he would soon catch up. As his mom I felt something was really wrong.  I took him in for an evaluation on the advice of a friend. There he was determined to have significant delays, but was not yet diagnosed with autism. It wasn’t until he was five years old that he was formally diagnosed with autism, moderate mental retardation,  and a seizure disorder-among other the things... This was a whirlwind time for our family. There was so much to learn, and so much to take in. What followed for me was a time of a lot of turmoil and sometimes heartache. I was running around from hospitals to therapies to schools to numerous school meetings  etc . . . Thankfully.  I had a lot of family support.

As the years have passed,  we have a much better understanding of our son’s challenges and his strengths. Antonio has taught us all about patience and to never give up. We have learned to speak up, to challenge decisions we were not happy with, to seek better medical treatment, and schooling for him.  We have also been involved with many community agencies, and other parents who were going through the same  circumstances as ours.  We are a very close knit family, and very traditional. I’ve never been around another group of people that love to get together and play music and eat as much as my family-it’s pretty cool! Having so many family members concerned and rallying behind Antonio is the greatest feeling one can have. You never feel alone.

I hope that one day Antonio will be able to express himself verbally. I think he has a lot to say. As a family we have a lot of great dreams for our future, and I hope we can realize all of them. I can truly say that this has been the best time in my life.

Our motto is "The best remains and the very best is yet to be."