|
On December
18th, 1995 Matthew came into our lives. He was so perfect in every way. He had
all his fingers and toes :)
When it was time to take him home I sensed there was something not quite
right but I couldn't place what it was. He wasn't sick and we went to all the
well-baby check ups. The Doctor would measure his head and would look puzzled as to
why Matthew's head stayed on the low curve. I was starting to get worried because
by 6 months he wasn't responding to things around him. He wasn't sitting up on
his own and he wouldn't roll over until he was nearly a year old. The Doctor kept
saying "don't worry he will catch up".
The
Doctor was worried about the measurements
on his head and decided to do a skull x-ray. The results came back devastating.
The Doctor said it looks like your sons cranial closure is what's causing him to have
a small head and be delayed. I freaked! I was so upset I turned numb. They sent us up to a
plastic surgeon in Nashville's Vanderbilt hospital and the Doctor said that the x-rays look
like there is some closure but it is not severe. He recommended us to a neurologist.
He did an MRI on Matthew and said everything looks fine and that he is just delayed
but "will catch up". He recommended us to a speech therapist at this
time back in our home area to help jump start Matthew's speech, which there was none as
of a year old.
We started Matthew with sign language which he quickly accepted and it was
shortly after that he began to use one to two words at a time. He didn't
understand the words only used them because we asked him to. We also got him enrolled in an Early Intervention Program that was great for him. He was behind in
a lot of areas, by age two he finally started showing interest in walking. He
would have major meltdown tantrums to try to communicate his wants and needs,
but we failed to understand his language. We did try the Picture Program which
helped a great deal, with him seeing the pictures he knew what was going to
happen next.
By age 2 1/2 we went to Vanderbilt Children's Developmental Center to have
an evaluation done to see just where he was at in his needs. They determined he
was a high functioning Autistic child. He has a photographic memory, he just cant say
what he wants to you in words. I was so relieved to finally have the name only because I had
felt all along that this was what he was, and they finally confirmed it. Now I knew I
could go on and get what I needed in resources to give him the best in life.
At age 3 Matthew went into the school system for Preschool. He had a
wonderful time there. He did great for the teachers and got along great with
everyone.
Then at age 4 they moved him to a Pre-K program and things went down hill
from there. He was getting bad notes every day. He was terribly upset when he
came home and refused to even want to go to school the next day. All the while
his head banging had gone from bad to worse. I was so scared for him because I
felt his head can't take that much banging. We talked to the doctor's in desperate
need of help and they offered a pill. What a nightmare that turned out to be,
the poor kid was a zombie! I took him off that right away and found my way to
Vanderbilt once again this time with the help of a great Doctor that believes that
the food we eat can have an impact on our lives. I had also done a lot of research
on the web and was ready to start this new adventure. It's the Gluten Free/ Casein
Free Diet with vitamin therapy.
Life has forever changed for Matthew. The words that still
ring in my head from the Doctor's "he will catch up", well he is 5 years
old now and hasn't caught up in all the areas but this new diet has given him a
fighting chance to finally catch up! We no longer have the tantrums all day, only
a couple typical ones. He is starting to put his own shoes on and he can even
change his pull-ups (we're still working on potty training). He finally looks at you when he
talks to you and he loves to be
in "your space" to interact on his own terms of course. I know this is no cure for the perfect
child ( a perfect child what's that?), but he is on his way to a better life. He has such a great amount of spontaneous
communication its wonderful! We take for granted all the little things he was
suppose to do at certain ages and seeing them now blossoming at a fast rate it
is such a blessing :)
There are so
many things Matthew likes but his favorites are music, computer, TV and best of
all playing outside with his best buddy Bailey our dog. Also he
is starting to color in the lines and can follow the dots to dots and almost
write his name, I am so proud of him!
Click here
to continue with the rest of the story: Matthews
Update
|
