ATLANTA -- Eight year old Ava Bullard is playing with her sisters, riding their bikes on their long country driveway. It is a simple act that defies those who said she would never talk, those who said she wouldn't function in the real world.

Ava was not a typical baby, or toddler.

Her mother Anna says, "You couldn't interact with her."

MORE | Complete coverage of The Autism Gap

Ava did not play with toys. Did not speak. Could not dress herself. Did not interact with her parents or sisters. Slept two hours a night. She was in her own world.

Anna says, "It's like she looked straight through me. She would just...it's like you weren't there, if you were in the room with her."

Anna Bullard took Ava from doctor to doctor for months. One doctor told the family Ava was 'just weird.'

JONESBORO, Ga. -- This year's Clayton County Festival of Trees & Lights will hold its opening ceremony at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 30.

The Christmas tree will be lit at 6 p.m. Other activities for the whole family include arts & crafts, a cake walk, hay rides, pictures with Santa Claus and more.

The Festival of Trees & Lights is held at Clayton County International Park in Jonesboro and runs through Sunday, Dec. 16.

Cars are $5 each during the week and $7 on weekends; there is no gate fee for cars that enter the park before 6 p.m.

Visit claytonparks.com for more information.

STOCKBRIDGE, Ga. -- Piedmont Henry Hospital is one of seven hospitals in the state of Georgia that will participate in Best Fed Beginnings, a first-of-its-kind national effort to improve breastfeeding rates in states where rates are currently the lowest.

“We are delighted to have been chosen to participate in this important effort and to have the opportunity to improve our maternity care services to better support breastfeeding,” said Pat McAfee, RN, MSN, director of women and infant services at Piedmont Henry Hospital. “We recognize that for women who plan to breastfeed, the hospital experience strongly influences a mother’s ability to start and continue breastfeeding.”