Russian Roulette (Unit 5)

I am a parent that blames it on the vaccinations. Funny thing was, that was about the time when Cindy Crawford was all over the TV about not vaccinating her son. My mom kept telling me to look into it. I said, "Well, I could have a sick child or a child that will die because I didn't vaccinate." It's sad... vaccinations shouldn't be a russian roulette.

I got my son vaccinated. He had fever, irritable, I called the doctor's office and they said it was normal. Then his fever got higher, he looked like he was in pain, so I brought him in that morning. The doctor felt his stomach, the doctor said he had a "blockage". They gave him an enema and my son passed a BM the size of my fist... it was so horrible and terrifying for him. I just felt so bad. From then on my baby boy was never the same.

He would stare off at the walls, couldn't take him out to dinner or anywhere that was too noisey. Haircuts... I had to cut his hair while he was sleeping. When he got older I had to sit him on my lap, restrain him by putting both my legs on top of his legs and hold down both his arms. Eventually that stopped when he was 4. I also had to cut his nails when he was sleeping. Then he became scared of other babies, then insects, then small animals. He always had digestive problems.

When he was three I put him in daycare. He told me he didn't like going there because the kids made him nervous because they were "climbing the walls". I thought he was like that because it was his first time in daycare. He was taken care of by my mom or a friend of the family prior to that. Next thing I know my son is biting his nails. Then he pulled out all his eyelashes in one eye at his daycare. That was enough.

Then I thought to put him in Primrose because it is more structured and disciplined like a school. Sure enough he did fine at Primrose.

There were things like I had to cut off all his shirt tags, and he always had to have socks on. He never wanted to be bare foot. I knew he was more behind than other kids. I would think back at what I was doing at his age. I couldn't get him to draw, write, or color. However his memorization was fantastic, and still is. He had a fascination with water, playing in the water, playing with toys in the water, and he would always line up his toys like his dinosaurs, motorcycles and cars.

I took my son to several doctors and none of then wanted to diagnose him. They all said to wait until kindergarten, which is exactly what I didn't want. He starts kindergarten, he starts acting out in class because he's frustrated and can't do things like the other kids. His school counselor suggested to get him tested. Then he was diagnosed with autism.

I felt so depressed. I was so sad for him. All a parent wants is what's best for their child. I just knew I had to do what I could to fight back at this thing that was interrupting my son's life.

I later learned to feed my son whole foods, organic foods, have him drink plenty of water, have him take probiotics, supplements with DHA, a good multivitamin. His foods must be free of dye, msg, and gluten. Why? Children with autism have high toxicity, their body for whatever reason is lacking the enzymes needed to rid the body of toxins. Since it is more difficult for my son's body to rid these toxins, it is important that his foods are free of such toxins especially mercury and pesticides. Water obviously helps to flush the toxins out. Probiotics helps to keep his digestive system happy, and also aids in ridding the toxins. DHA increases brain function and attention. His multivitamins are vegan, gluten free and hypoallergenic. Foods with dye, msg, and gluten irritate his digestive system, and make his symptoms worse. I recently learned about melatonin, many parents are using melatonin to rid the toxic metals from their child's body. It seems like everyday I'm learning more,and I can hardly keep up. The key is to use what works for your child. I guess I am doing the right thing because my son keeps steadily improving!

It wasn't until after my husband and I put Christian in a program provided by the school district here in Peoria Unified, that everything started to "click" for him little by little. He was no longer frustrated, he could understand, and loved school. Prior to that, his self-esteem was low, he was hard on himself, and he would call himself a "loser," and would say "I don't know why I can't understand. I don't know why I can't focus." It was like pulling teeth to try to get him to do homework. Now he comes home and gets his homework done first thing without me asking.

Now I feel like there is light at the end of the tunnel. He completed 3rd grade with perfect attendance, perfect conduct, he had 1 B and the rest As. I never thought I'd see any one of those, but he had all of them! My son has come a long ways in the last 2 and a half years. Now he does karate, he would not have been able to keep up with that 3 years ago.

My son is 10 now, and most people can't tell he has autism. I get so many compliments on his behavior, his manners, and people will tell me that he's mature for his age. My son is proof that anything is possible. Anything that other kids do, he has to try so much harder. He is my inspiration, I am so proud of him, and blessed to be his mother!