We are creating this page to share updates about our son's progress during his participation in the Brain Balance Program in Vernon Hills, Illinois.
Our son, Andrew, was born in 2006. He developed completely on track until around 18 months when we realized that he was changing. He lost the handful of words that he had and started to drift off into his own little world. He no longer noticed when people came or left a room and would just sit and play quietly, alone.
It was just after his 2nd birthday that he was officially diagnosed with Autism. We immediately started getting him speech and occupational therapies. He began school at the age of 3 in a classroom with other autistic children for five hours a day where he also got therapy. I began reading every book and attending every conference or support group that had to do with autism so I could learn how to get my child back.
He has been through hell. From having eye surgery at 6 months old for esotropia (crossed eyes/weak muscles), twice having upper GI scopes for stomach ulcers, to being put under another three times for MRI's and nerve conduction studies in regards to severe pain in his arm, that to this day exists (supposedly due to hyper mobile joints). Coincidentally he also broke the same arm last year during the school day and no one knows how THAT happened.
I love this little boy so much, I can't even describe how much my heart breaks when I see him hurting. He has very few words and mostly communicates now via a picture exchange system where he hands us little pictures of things he wants. Despite all his troubles he is one of the cutest, sweetest, most imaginative little boys and; although he may bite you, I haven't met anyone that doesn't fall in love with him.
We decided long ago that I would quit working and stay home to support Andrew and be available for every one of his needs. It's hard to find a job that would allow me the time off needed to deal with everything that has gone on with him.
Andrew has shown progress each year, but as expected with children on the autism spectrum this progress is slow and far between. We celebrate every new thing he does; from when he finally learned to point to an object he wanted at 5 years old to when he recently dropped something and accurately used the words "uh oh" to tell me about it!
I've recently learned of an amazing program that is available to him called Brain Balance. I can't believe I haven't tried this already. Instead of treating the symptoms of autism, this program gets to the root of the problems...by "fixing" their brains for lack of better words. It sounds too simple but I have listened to so many testimonials from parents explaining the amazing results their kids have had with this program. The cost is about the same as other therapies ($150 an hour approximately) but unfortunately insurance does not cover any of it so we will need to pay the entire bill. We are reaching out to others to try and raise the money to pay for this program. If you can afford to donate any amount of money towards Andrew's enrollment we greatly appreciate it. If you cannot we thank you for following us on his progress and would love if you could share our blog or the fundraising site with your friends. www.gofundme.com/connectingourkid . We are excited and finally are not afraid to think about his future and what may become of his life. With the results this program has shown in other children, Andrew has a chance.
For more information on the Brain Balance Program you can go to their website www.brainbalancecenters.com or check out the book Disconnected Kids by Dr. Robert Melillo
We are hoping to start the program in late November and need to pay $5500 up front to start. Please check in with us after that to hear about how Andrew is doing!
Thank you
-Dana
