Brittany Alyssa Couture
August 8, 1993 -- July 1, 1999
Drowning
Brittany was born in August 1993. We soon discovered that she had severe developmental delays which were later diagnosed as autism. We put her in a very tough program at the age of 2 1/2. Here she was schooled
from 9am to 1pm daily, along with a one hour bus ride each way. She then had an hour of intense therapy at home with a trained therapist and an hour of
therapy with me after dinner. The program, called Behavior Modification,did wonders. The "real Brittany" began to emerge. No longer did we see the quiet little girl that would sit in the middle of the living room for hours just dropping toys into a box, or the little girl that would sit and rock for hours in front of the TV. Slowly, we started to see our girl. She
loved everyone, and wasn't afraid to show you so. Language still eluded her, however. As a last resort, at the age of 3 1/2, they decided to try one last thing before they began a sign language program. The idea was to give her only water to drink. Britt loved juice and we all hoped that if she was given only water and had to ASK for juice she just might break
down that last little wall. Well, she was very upset that day at school and kept whining for juice, without getting it now. As I stood at the kitchen sink
doing dishes that night, she whined for a drink. I filled her cup with water and turned around to finish the dishes. Then, for the first time,she spoke. "Juice"- as clear as a bell. I had just witnessed a miracle, and knew it. This happened on a Friday. By Monday morning she could speak about 50 words. She worked sooo hard throughout her short life and was
eventually placed in a "normal" Kindergarten. Here, her program continued. The school district was very much against such an intense program on such a
young child, but after observing Brittany and how well she was doing, they implemented this program thoroughout the district. By the end of the year
she was close to being at the top of her class academically. The other children would fight over who would get to eat with her at lunch, and many considered Britt their best friend. She still had a hard time grasping abstract concepts such as danger. She didn't understand that a car could hit and hurt her or that she could drown in water. Our neighbor's have a summer home behind us with an unfenced pool. Brittany knew it was there and had wandered up there before. One night, as I sat on the couch, Brittany
went out the side door of our home and wandered up there. By the time anyone found her it was too late, she had drowned in this pool that our neighbor's felt wouldn't "look as nice" with a fence around it. Gone was this amazing child that had taught so many so much about being disabled. Gone was Emily and Ryan's "sissy" and the light in our world. We love you and miss you Britt!
