Therese Ojibway began taking her son Clinton into the forest when he was 3 years old. Clinton was diagnosed with autism when he was a toddler, but Therese knew her son would have the same interests as any kid.
The trouble was his social behaviors are a little different, not everyone immediately understands. Therese wanted a place where Clinton could feel free of judgment from others and express his quirks without a care in the world.
The forest was the perfect place. Clinton could explore, run around, and use his imagination.
"He was following instructions a lot all day, and I wanted to have him go to a place where he could be telling me where to go, where I could follow his lead," Therese said.
That's when the mother came up with a special idea. She had always built small homes and furnishings as a kid using recycled items. She decided to start doing this for Clinton. Using twigs and branches, Therese would build tiny "fairy homes" in the stumps and trunks of trees.
"I started looking at the hollows of the trees and thought, 'If I were a fairy I would live there,'" she said.
As Clinton grew older he and his mom began to leave the fairy homes all over. Now other kids with autism visit the woods and discover the dozens of fairy homes. Some of them leave Therese letters and notes. In exchange she leaves them surprise!
Please SHARE if you would love to bring your children to this magical fairy home!
