Sweet Moment Mom Hears 5-Year-Old Daughter With Autism Speak For The First Time

Hearing your child’s first words is definitely a moment to celebrate. However, when your child has nonverbal autism, the chances of hearing them speak is slim. For one Alabama mom, she had nearly accepted she’d never hear her 5-year-old daughter speak.

Briana Blankenship from Athens, Alabama is mom to 5-year-old Taylor. They got the attention of the world after a very emotional and heartwarming video caught by Briana.

Briana Blankenship, mom to 5-year-old Taylor, has accepted she'll never hear her daughter speak.

According to Briana, doctors have already told her Taylor might never speak. She told Bored Panda, “I had basically accepted that I would never hear her voice.”

Apparently, Taylor was still being tested by medical professionals at the time the video was taken. But they have already diagnosed the little girl with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Sensory Processing Disorder.

Autism Spectrum Disorder affects a person’s interaction with other people as well as how they learn and communicate. And so, Briana use limited sign language and gestures to communicate with her daughter.

Taylor was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder which affects her communication skills.

In terms of education, the family has an iPad locked so Taylor can only use a communication program called LAMP. This app helps the little girl with her schoolwork. In fact, Taylor is pretty good at spelling thanks to it.

Apart from participating in school, Briana also brings Taylor to occupational class to help with her motor skills along with sensory therapy.

“Her dad and I also pay for her to go to gymnastics every week and that helps with following instructions and it also has helped her stop her tiptoe walking that a lot of kids with Autism do.”

They were on their way to gymnastics class when the impossible happened.

Briana was bringing Taylor to gymnastics class one day when the special moment happened. They were running late and so she went to a nearby fast-food drive-through. “We rarely eat fast food so she recognized that she was about to get her favorite food, French fries, and started getting excited and giggling in the back seat. That’s when I heard her say it.”

Taylor spoke for the first time.

Briana took her phone out and caught the moment on video to show to her family. She called her her husband first and then posted the video online and tagged her family. Soon after, the video went viral.

Watch the emotional video down here: