Hope For Three is honored to introduce our December Autism Superhero, Claudia Diaz!
Claudia and her husband, Chris, have one son, Alejandro, age 10, who enjoys books and practices jiu-jitsu with his dad.
Claudia’s journey has been a balancing act between hers and Alejandro’s many medical issues. Claudia is a cancer survivor; she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer when Alejandro was eight months old. When released from her cancer treatment, Alejandro was diagnosed with intractable epilepsy and with autism at two years and eight months old.
It is through the challenging times that Claudia’s strength and resilience have emerged, just like a butterfly who goes through many struggles to transform from a caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly.
Claudia has found art as a medium for self-healing and to help others through Pet Immortal to provide healing to pet owners. Her love of art and Alejandro led to the 2019 children’s book Alejandro and the Bacon Breakfast, which she wrote to raise awareness for autism; you can find the book on Amazon.
Claudia is an introvert, but this hasn’t stopped her from advocating for the autism, cancer, epilepsy, and other communities her family belongs. She aims to spread hope and love for Alejandro and other children, move people out of their comfort zone, and spread hope.
Claudia calls Chris her “rock.” He is very persistent and an amazing problem solver. Through an adaptive jiu-jitsu program called “Little Lions,” Chris found a way to bond with Alejandro and taught him to hug. When Alejandro was seven years old, following Chris’s instructions, he could embrace Claudia for the first time since he was an infant; the embrace and the look of achievement and success on Chris’s face will stay forever in her memory.
You can listen to a recent YouTube podcast Claudia recorded on “Love What You Do,” https://youtu.be/1H7qbH9wHJ0