Concerned About the Food Issue
We took Daniel to a food clinic and they wanted to do group therapy we knew that wasn’t going to work, we just knew. He never did well with group setting with his peers. We are very thankful now that we did not do it because the therapy would have been quite stressful for him and could have made things a bit worse. Still I knew in my heart there was something more going on.
I needed an answer.
David started researching his behavior and recognized Aspergers immediately. David had always felt he would just come out of most of this stuff. And he was right in a way. All I heard was “autism” and I was scared. We moved and found another doctor who knew right away that Daniel had Aspergers, her nephew was AS. She did send us to specialist and therapists. We were able to get him started in speech and occupational therapy. This only lasted about 8 months then our insurance ran out so we had to stop. He made huge progress. They gave me resources and information to help Daniel and work at home.
What now?
I would like to say that I was a saint and did everything to find out what to do but I didn’t. I went into denial. I was like ok, so he shows these signs but if I pray hard enough it will all go away. If I just work on his therapy as much as possible it will stop. That didn’t work. I would see huge progress and then he would go ten steps backward. It was very confusing and painful. There was a bigger issue though, I was being very selfish. So what now? I tried to escape.
I have a lot more on the escape issue but it will be several posts that I do. It took a while but I finally moved forward but it took a painful experience and a long look in the mirror.
Happier Days!
I am happy to say that Daniel is still making huge progress. He is now eating crackers and a variety of crunchy foods. He tries foods that I never thought possible. He may not eat them regularly but he takes a notion and just picks it up and tries it. I usually set out a bowl or plate with the same foods we are eating and sometimes he eats it sometimes he doesn’t. Working with him has brought him where now he is speaking in sentences not as fluent as his sister or brother but he is communicating which has made our world a much happier place.
Progress yes!
Daniel has come a long way just in the past five months. It was only a year ago that he started feeding himself. He is starting to dress himself, do interactive play, participating in art class, talking to his sister and brother. Just the other day he looked right at me and said “I love you”. I have poems I wrote to express that moment.
Everyday gets better and better.
