Blake
Blake was born on August 11th 1997.
He was doing everything
that a normal young child would do. When he was 16 months old he began to go backwards, losing his speech and eye contact
and repetitively lining things up.
Blake was taken to several doctors to find out what was wrong. At the age of 2 years
7 months he was diagnosed as being Autistic. In 2002 Blake was making no eye contact and was not able to talk, though he did
achieve every goal until 18months of age. He was like a newborn baby again.
Blake had major head banging and wrist biting
problems, would not sit with a seat belt on, would only eat with his fingers and was gluten and dairy intolerant
Due to not being able to get Blake into early intervention or any help for him we moved from Sydney to Bowral as we were
able to access some early intervention at Moss Vale Public school. On Blake's 5th birthday he had his first Epileptic
fit. So we were hit with another blow with finding out that Blake is Epileptic. Blake then started to go to a school at Mittagong
called Tangara, a school for disabled children. Blake attended Tangara for 18 months. We saw no improvement in Blake at all.
He was in fact only copying the other disabled children that also attended the school. While Blake was attending Tangara school
he was diagnosed as being severely autistic. Blake had no language, eye contact and was not toilet trained.
We were then
introduced to the Son-Rise Program™ by ‘Rainbow’ of the Southern Highlands. Through 'Rainbow'
Blake was able to attend the Autism Treatment Centre of America™ in December 2003 for an 'Intensive Program'.
Before attending this program Blake only had a couple of words. When we returned we took Blake out of Tangara School and began
to home school him in 2004.
Since starting the Son-Rise Program™ with the help of volunteers Blake
can now say over 500 words! He gives almost normal eye contact and is interactive his brother Bailey and others. He sits with
a seat belt on can have a meal with little assistance using a fork.
We would be lucky to get 12 hours a week in
Blake’s playroom but we are finding more and more support slowly. Blake now has the diagnosis of moderate to severe
Autism.
The Son-Rise Program™ has impacted not only Blake but all of us as a family. Our
precious time spent together is now a loving and more enjoyable lifestyle. I along with my husband and Blake's sibling
Bailey will never be the same because of what impact the program has had.
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Felicity Felicity turned 8 in October this year. At 11
months of age Felicity would not make any form of eye contact – she seemed to be looking through people. Felicity would
stare at her pointer finger for hours on end – we named this her fairy.
As Felicity got older she was very withdrawn and displayed
very anxious behaviour when she was not within her normal routine. She had little to no eye contact and spent much of her
days either doing repetitive stimulating behaviours such as jumping or posting items into and out of containers. She often
clung to our clothes and would cry loudly when she was removed from us. She would also do this at school with her carers which
made her very difficult to manage as she always had to stay contacted to you. At 4 years old, she started to display quite
depressed behaviour where she would want to sleep all the time and she became almost inert. At times she would show little
sparks, laughing out loud and jumping around. She could not ask for anything she needed and was totally dependant on us for
the very basics: toileting, dressing and feeding. She had no language and no real understanding of why you would use language
as she did not know how to request, even physically.
Felicity
has been doing her Son-Rise Program™ for just over 2 years
now. We started hour by hour, slowly building up to two full days a week with 3 days of school. At the start of this year
2008, we finally managed to provide her with the full 5 days of home-schooling and take her out of school.
Now Felicity has beautiful and spontaneous eye contact with us that is building all the
time. Felicity request things all the time like food, drink, and most importantly interaction with others. She is demonstrating
with actions a comprehension of our language and she is starting to use some basic words. She is happy and settled and most
of the anxious behaviour has disappeared. She has toilet trained herself and is no longer holding food in her mouth, but trying
many new foods. She looks at us when we have a conversation, she often smiles at people she knows and she is learning some
basic games to play with us. All in all, she has far exceeded out expectations and it has happened since we started her Son-Rise
Program™ alongside bio-medical intervention.
We never imagined this to
be possible. The Son-Rise Program™ has given us as a family new hope and a positive
outlook for Felicity’s future. Before we were just ‘coping’ with Felicity and her behaviors and felt we
were ‘policing’ her every move. Now we are interacting with her and enjoying every moment with her, we are happier
and no longer thinking we are living with a life sentence of disability. We believe that Felicity is wonderful just the way
she is, even if she does not get any better.
It has given us hope! We no longer
see Felicity and her disability but rather we see her uniqueness and the wonderful changes she has made in our lives.
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Hannah Hannah was 2 when she was first diagnosed as Autistic however
the signs that all was not well were evident long before. She did not develop any language and was disinterested in people,
even her own family. She clung to a strict and limited routine and was terribly upset if we didn't adhere. She spent her
time rolling over the backs of couches, winding herself in curtains and, literally, climbing the walls! She even spent a week
with a piece of fabric on her neck held down by her chin! She was, nevertheless a sweet and quirky child who was relatively
happy in her own world... until she began school. At the age of three
she began at a preschool for autistic children and graduated from there to a special school. She became anxious, aggressive,
violent and refused to speak and, for some months, to eat. She pulled the house apart destroying blinds, defecating all over
the carpets and getting into anything she could find. Our house quickly became "lockdown" and had there been adequate
high-shelf space, I'm sure most of the house would have been up there. If anything her condition deteriorated and she
became unreachable. She had no skills and no desire to interact with anyone outside of her own small world. With no expressive
language, no self-help skills and no social skills, there was little anyone could do except to "manage" her and
try to ensure she caused no harm to herself or others.
We began Hannah's Son Rise Program™
in January 2006 (part time) and, after doing the 'Start Up' course at The Autism Treatment Centre of America™
in May 2006, I immediately pulled her out of school and began an intensive full time program. We have our playroom running
between 25 and 40 hours a week depending largely on the participation of volunteers.
Hannah is a new child,
a tad naughty and incredibly cheeky with a spark of life that we are thrilled to see. She plays all day long and it is now
us that get worn out from all the interaction! She has lovely eye contact and thousands of words. She speaks in sentences
and understands that speaking gets people moving. So if she's asking for something VERY unlikely (such as chocolate) she
will say "want chocolate please" while looking in your eyes delightfully. I'd say based on that she
has NO sign of an intellectual disability! She is happy to interact all day long.
She has also improved so much
in physical health! With the help of her doctor (Dr Robyn Cosford) she is recovering daily from her significant challenges.
Every biochemical pathway in her body was damaged; her gut was in a terrible state and her immune system in overdrive. She
had a mercury reading that was through the roof! It has been a huge undertaking involving a radical diet, supplements, clearing
her impacted bowel, ridding her body of parasites usually only found in third world countries and addressing her nutritional
deficiencies- despite her food intake she gained no weight and seemed to be unable to derive sustenance from it. Her body
was struggling so much just to keep the barest functions going. She was chronically low in B12 and many vital body processes
had simply stopped. Hannah is definitely on the path to health and as that improves, so does her outlook on life as a whole!
Hannah is no longer "Hurricane Hannah"; a destructive force that blew our lives apart. We see her now,
as she is a beautiful girl, unique and special, who blesses us every day with her pure and extraordinary presence. While we
would love for her to be in health and peace in her life, we are totally happy with her and appreciate the experience we have
had in having her.
Our lives will never be the same. Before the Son-Rise Program™, I lived
wishing for the day it would all just get better, struggling through every moment. Now I love my life and wouldn't change
it for anything! I know that even after Hannah has finished her program I will continue to learn and grow from this. I know
also that I will continue teach Son-Rise™ to others. I have no doubt that Hannah will be able to do
anything she is motivated to do. And now, whatever that choice is, I will be happy with it.
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