Sacrifices and the Payoffs- Part 3 Autism Awareness

In December of 2009, 5 months after Christian was diagnosed with Autism from his pediatrician, we got in to see a neurologist that specialized in Autism. He then formally diagnosed Christian with PDD-NOS, Pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified. PDD-NOS falls on the Autism Spectrum. He told us Christian needed a therapy called ABA therapy (Applied Behavioral Analysis). We immediately looked into this, and it was not covered by insurance and it was a very expensive therapy. It'd cost us about $1500 a month for this therapy for Christian, but we knew he needed this therapy. We are the type that want to do anything and everything we can to help our children, and we'll do whatever it takes to help them. With lots of prayer, and lots of serious decision making, we came to the conclusion that I'd do his ABA therapy for him. This meant that I was going to have to quit my baby-sitting job that I was doing, because ABA therapy is intense and it takes hours each and every day. It was going to be a huge deal for our family, but our kids are worth it. We bought student textbooks on ABA therapy for children with Autism, and I read them. The school district that we are in had an ABA therapist, and I asked the school if she could help give me direction and make sure that I am implementing this program properly for Christian. They had to go through the district to make sure that she was allowed to do this, as they had never had a parent want to do their child's therapy themselves. The district agreed, and the therapist help me put together a program. In February of 2010, we started Christian's ABA therapy. It literally took me hours upon hours each day of doing his therapy over and over again. It was hard because it was so repetitive, but so rewarding as I personally got to see Christian making progress and developmentally flourishing. When we started his therapy in Feb. 2010 (at age 3 years and 7 months) he couldn't answer questions. At all. You'd ask a simple yes/no question and he litteraly couldn't come up with the answer. By June of 2010, just 4 months, he was answering yes/no questions and even more complex questions in which he'd have to give an answering. He was able to start categorizing people and objects. His speech improved immensely. I mean, in March of 2010, no one could understand a word he said. He sounded like he spoke in gibberish. By October of 2010, his speech was nearly at that of a "normal" 4 year old. Clearly, ABA therapy was an amazing therapy that worked wonders for Christian. In October of 2010, he was able to answer questions well enough to take an IQ test, and he tested gifted. 10 months earlier, he could hardly talk or comprehend questions or communication. None of this time period came easy for us though. There were serious sacrifices that were made by the entire family and some days were just down right grueling and I'd question my sanity on why on earth were we doing this. But the payoffs in the end were so so worth it. We pray and pray for both the boys and let the Lord lead us in the direction that he calls us in the raising and treatments for the boys. Sometimes it doesn't make sense to us why things happen in our lives, but trusting that the Lord is guiding our directions and has a plan set forth for you, makes sense in everything. Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight" Just on a side note, In May of 2010, a bill was passed in the state of Missouri that all ABA therapy and other treatments for Autism MUST be covered by insurance. Insurance could no longer discriminate against Autism. Hooray!! This was huge for families affected by Autism that have not been able to receive treatments for their children's Autism, just as we had experienced many times before.