Who was Samantha?

Samantha was 12 years old (born in 2010), of mixed heritage (her mother was Indian, and her father was white British) and lived with both parents. She was diagnosed with autism in May 2013 after concerns were raised at her 2-year developmental review. She was a lovely, happy child who enjoyed school, was lively and always giggling and smiling, a ‘ray of sunshine’ – although she could be very determined to get her own way. Samantha could be incredibly empathetic towards people who were important to her, recognising when those around her were stressed or upset. She had come on leaps and bounds socially and in terms of her ability to communicate in the 18 months before she died. She was able to verbalise short sentences in her memorably deep voice or use the Picture Exchange Communication System[1] (PECS) to express herself.