Pictures!

Gareth with her little sister. Bonding moment...





His pacute pose! :)

Update!!

Sorry for not updating this blog. Actually we are very busy for the last months because we concentrate on Gareth's therapy.

Here are the things that he can do since he started his therapy and taking DAN supplements:

So far he is doing well and he has already few words now. He is also not wearing diapers anymore because he can now go to the restroom if he need to pee and poo poo.

Gareth is not also drinking the common milk but only Rice Milk from Healthy Options. He can consumed 7 boxes of Rice Milk in a week.

He can also follow simple instructions and it seems that he has little awareness to his environment. He don't have public tantrums and I am so glad for it.

When we are eating in the restaurant, he can now eat independently. He has favorite restaurants and food already.

Since he has a little sister, he is showing affections too. He kisses her little sister while sleeping and they are always playing.

He loves to master the different sounds of the letters. He can also point the letters and numbers. He can count from 1-100.

He says his I Love You everyday! That is the most amazing part of being a mom.

When I ask for a kiss, he will give me kiss. I so love it.

Things that need to work out:


1. Speech
2. Interaction
3. Sense of Danger
4. Focus on School Activity



He loves Time Zone. :)






During our Visita Iglesia

Smile..

I am happy because he is trying so hard to interact with us but only if he is interested. This picture was taken when I am showing to him my camera and he is amazed when he saw his face. 

More words...

Since last month, when Gareth started imitating words, we have so much fun teaching him to talk. He is learning fast.. he is now imitating different words, sounds and of course songs. He is also learning to sing Filipino Songs like Ang Bayan Ko and Lupang Hinirang. I am so proud of him.

I am so happy that he continues learning and I can't wait for more.

At the Party

This pictures were taken during the First Birthday of Pillow (Gareth's Little Sister). As you can see, he is not really enjoying the party. I rented an inflatables so that he can still enjoy the party.

I hope next time he will be more aware so that he can enjoy a party like this. Please God...

Gareth's Last Song Syndrome

Gareth loves music. If he is so silent and not focusing on us, we can easily get his attention through his favorite music. When we are going to his the therapy center, he is singing and I can't figure out the title of the song so it's hard for me to join him.

Then I realized that it was a Tagalog song. Gareth seldom sings tagalog songs so it really surprised us hear him tried it. By listening to the tone, I confirmed that he is singing "Ako'y isang pinoy, may sariling wika" and so happy that he is really trying. Though it's hard to understand because he has a hard time pronouncing it but I am so happy.

I think he learned it from school.

Here's the thing:

Gareth attended school since last year but he is not that cooperative. When he started his OT and SPED therapy for 4 times a week there are a lot of improvement and mostly noticeable development.

He is into GFCF diet for a month now and so far I love it! He is now more focus. He can imitate words little by little. His behavior is controllable. He is now behaving in public unlike before that he will just throw tantrums whenever and wherever he wanted.

Just this afternoon, we went to DFA for my kids passport application. I didn't expect Gareth to behave all through out the process. He is behaving normal and just silently sit and waited. When it is time to take picture he is somewhat afraid and feel uneasy and luckily, hubby brings the PSP and put it above the camera, then Gareth has a nice passport picture. So proud of him!

There are some development and I will discuss it more next time!!

Have a blessed day everyone!!

Say what?

I have a good news! Gareth's lesson is about imitating words. This is the hardest part because Gareth is not fond of imitating words but he can memorize a songs of Justin Bieber and Bruno Mars. So, I keep on reading the teachers note after every session so that we can practice at home.

Just this week, I am teaching Gareth on imitating words.

Me: Say "Ahhhh"

Gareth: Ahhh

Me: Say "O"

Gareth: Say "O" (yes sometimes he keeps on saying "Say")

Me: Say "Mommy"

Gareth: "Mommy"

Me: Say "Daddy"

Gareth: Daddy

Me: Say "Pillow" (His sister's nick)

Gareth: "Dibo"

Wow!! I am so amazed of his development and so happy how fast he learns it. I am so thankful and happy!

Sometimes, I am frustrated because of slow development but I have to remind myself that we should wait patiently and pray to God that everything will be alright.

20 days since Gareth started his GFCF diet and I see a lot of development.

1. The poop smells normal and look normal. This is our primary problem eversince. When Gareth turn 1 year old, I was bothered of the color and texture of his poop. He was taking milk that time and the color is pure white and hard. It was not a normal poop of a baby.

2. Eye Contact - lately when we call his attention he is practicing eye contact. If I teach him something he always look at me. If he want something he look at my eyes and guide my hands. Just like this morning, when he wanted to change his diaper he just reached my hand and look at me in the eye and pointed his diaper.

3. Awareness - This is not so perfect yet but it is really developing. If we are singing his favorite song he will listen to us and repeat the songs too. Unlike before that he will not even give a simple hint that he is listening.

4. Imitation - Since Gareth was born, he is not imitating. Everytime he hears something that interests him, he will not imitate it. Lately, he is trying his best to imitate the songs and even the words I'm teaching him.

I am also keep on reading books that will guide me in handling him and those are very helpful. It helps me understand his case more.

I hope he will continue to learn more and show developments little by little.

As always, I will never give up in learning and teaching him ways to express his feelings easily and be able to adjust the "real world."

One Week of Taking GFCF Supplements

It was a busy week since we celebrated Gareth's little sister's birthday. We had fun but Gareth was not participating in any games. Well, I expected it to happen and I understand him. Though hindi sya masyadong nag enjoy sa party pero kumain sya ng marami at naglaro sya don sa inflatables then natulog na sya. I am just happy that he didn't throw tantrums during the event. He is well behaved.

He is taking the supplements for a week. I observed that he can easily sleep now at hindi na panay ang gising nya para humingi ng milk. Since mahilig syang kumanta mas pinapakinggan na talaga nya ngayon ang gusto na nyang perfect ang pagpronounce nya sa lyrics.

Still.. no communication at eto talaga ang inaabangan ko na gagawin nya.

Maybe nasa withdrawal period pa sya kaya wala pa masyadong nakikitang development but we never loose hope. We will continue all the treatments needed.

At the Restaurant

In his "world"

Daddy is busy

He is trying to say something.

I wondered what he's thinking...

Daddy needs to tickle him in order for him to smile at the camera.

There you go..

I love this shot! Gareth laugh so loud!

GFCF Diet

We woke up early for Gareth's DAN Doctor visit. Since we are from Antipolo and it's our first time to visit that place, we need to get up early and Gareth needs to cancel his Monday activities.

We arrived in time and I signed up the form.

Then the doctor evaluate Gareth and told them about the first findings and it was GDD with Autism. The doctor wondered because Gareth seems far from the findings.

The evaluation took around 1 hour then we had discussion about the GFCF supplements. When I saw the products, I realized that those are the things needed to help Gareth focus on his daily activities.

I purchased the supplements needed. Those supplements are just for the start of the treatment and very important.

If you are interested to visit the DAN (Defeat Autism Now) Doctor here's the details:

1st F Randa Bldg. 146 Mindanao Ave, QC.

Landline number is 9201965

Consultation: 1,500php

Supplements (Starter), 16,100php

HEAVEN'S VERY SPECIAL CHILD

A meeting was held quite far from Earth!
It's time again for another birth.
Said the Angels to the LORD above,
This Special Child will need much love.

His progress may be very slow,
Accomplishments he may not show.
And he'll require extra care
From the folks he meets down there.

He may not run or laugh or play,
His thoughts may seem quite far away,
In many ways he won't adapt,
And he'll be known as handicapped.

So let's be careful where he's sent,
We want his life to be content.
Please LORD, find the parents who
Will do a special job for you.

They will not realize right away
The leading role they're asked to play,
But with this child sent from above
Comes stronger faith and richer love.

And soon they'll know the privilege given
In caring for their gift from Heaven.
Their precious charge, so meek and mild,
Is HEAVEN'S VERY SPECIAL CHILD.


by Edna Massionilla
December 1981
The Optomist- newsletter for PROUD
Parents Regional Outreach for Understanding Down's Inc.

We went out today to have little shopping. Next week is the first birthday of our little girl so we made this day for Gareth because I planned of buying him new clothes for the event.

I don't know if Gareth will participate in his sister's event so I rented an inflatables just to keep him busy while we are waiting the guests.

So today we went to Greenhills and bought him 2 poloshirts. He is well behaved at Greenhills and so proud of him. Some kids with autism can't stay longer in crowded places but Gareth can take it. He use to stay at the mall, coffee shops and even cinemas.

As a mom, I always see to it to let him go out with us always so that he will get use to it and aware of the environment. My usual problem is sometimes he don't have awareness of danger. He is not aware of the other vehicles in the parking lot so we really can't let him go on his own. Most of the time hubby and I are holding him both just for his security.

Since Gareth attended therapy he is not as wild as before. He is learning to follow simple rules. If we are walking at the mall or at the streets he always reach our hands and wants us to hold him. This simply made me feel comfortable that he will not just run whenever we are not watching him.

It's a busy day today, Gareth went to school then to Therapy center with my husband. After we do some errands, I sit next to Gareth with his little sister. The little one wanted to play with his Kuya but Gareth simply ignored her. It just simply made me sad because I want to see them both playing but since Gareth sometimes has his own world that is impossible to do.

He is so noisy today and stopped everyone in the house if we were singing Bruno Mars songs. He wanted us to know that it is only him who know the songs. So we let him be. He is singing until he got tired and feel sleepy.

Then the torture begins...

He was throwing books and toys to get my attention. I looked at him and asked what he wanted. He continued crying and screaming. I didn't gave in. I let him cry and still keep on asking what he wants. It took us around 15 minutes before he finally said "De De" he simply means milk.

I smile and celebrate his effort. Hubby handed him the milk and then Gareth sleeps.

Goodnight everyone!

Gareth's favorite thing to do is just to stay near to me. Everytime I lock our room he don't feel comfortable but sometimes I need to do it because I am working and I can't focus if he is also inside the room. Sometimes he is so active and end up jumping from my office chair to our nearby bed. It is so distracting for a mom like me who is working at home.

But today is quite different. When I woke up around 1pm, Gareth holds my hand and led me inside our room. For the rest of the day he is inside the room and just go out if he needs to eat. He is so silent the whole day. I wonder what happened to him but today he is not talking. He is just listening to music and even covered my mouth if I sing.

There are moments that I can't stop him being so loud but sometimes he wants peace. This is the moment when his mind is working so hard to memorize the songs he is listening then one day he will just surprise us.

I am taking this opportunity also to read books and enjoy the calmness in our room. No tantrums! Just hugs and kisses from Gareth.

While I am writing this post, he is seating behind me and touching my hair. :)

Oh God.. I love my life!

Tantrums

Just like any other kids with autism Gareth has tantrums too and sometimes very hard to deal. Gareth is at the living room watching Disney Junior and all of a sudden he shouted very loud that I can't ignore. His tantrums somehow affects his 11 months old sister, Pillow. Pillow is also crying because she saw his brother crying and this made me go crazy coz' I don't know how to manage those cryings. So I looked Gareth and listened to him. He is talking but believe me it is so hard to understand but I show to him that I understood everything.

So I found out that my sister in the other room is playing Gareth's favorite song and that made him so mad. Gareth hates watching his favorite TV shows while in the other room he's favorite song is playing. He really don't know how to manage it so he just screamed and cried!

As a mom, I don't know why I understand him. This shows our connection and it somehow made me feel better.

How I wish he can start talking so that he can express his emotions easily...

Gareth's Version of The Lazy Song :)

Gareth loves Bruno Mars songs and Lazy Song is one of his favorites.

I Believe

I know mom's like me will definitely understand what I'm going through. I will never stop believing that someday in God's time Gareth will grow like a normal kid.

Sometimes, I want to give up but I know there is no way for us to go but to find ways on how to make all this things easier for Gareth. I really wanted to help him and I know that he can't rely to anyone else but us as his family.

Today, I decided to call the DAN Doctor, well, as far as I know based on my research that there is only one DAN Doctor in the Philippines so far and this is really frustrating since the number of autistic kids are keep on growing. I set an appointment to meet a DAN Doctor for the first time on August 1 and hopefully we will start Gareth's treatment ASAP.

I read a lot of books about Autism and those are really helpful. I found out that early intervention is very important as well as the diet. We tried GFCF diet before but got frustrated because Gareth turned very weak and as a mother it really breaks my heart.

For the past 3 months we focused on his therapy. He has a nursery class everyday from 8am to 10am then headed to his Occupational Therapy and SPED Therapy from 1pm- 2pm. He is attending therapy 4 times a week for 730php/hour. Having an autistic kid is not easy. We need to deal with his behavior, our frustrations and of course our financial capability.

I lost count on how much we spent so far for his treatment. I hate computing it or taking notes of it. I don't want to think if we spent too much because all I really want is to give him the best. I believe that giving everything to him now while he is still young is very important for his recovery and I have faith that he will be normal anytime soon. And computing what we spent is not my priority.

Anyway, I read this book Cutting-Edge Therapies for Autism and it helps me understand more about his case. It has a different guide for different therapies that your kid might be needing.

Feed Me!

I love reading and since I found out about Gareth's case I am so hungry of information. I bought the kindle version of Louder than Words by Jenny McCarthy at Amazon and I learn a lot from her.

I think we should continue the GFCF diet that Gareth started months ago but I stopped because he lost a lot of weight and he becomes very sickly.

I think we should start seeking DAN Doctors ASAP too.

Everytime I read something new that I thought will benefit my son's condition I immediately research more about it and hoping that it will be the best for him.

Rants

As a mom, I find it hard to deal the situation of my son.

The depressions is with me since I found out Gareth's case. There are moments that I don't know how to deal my depressions anymore specially if Gareth is not showing any progress.

I found myself away from anyone too. I locked myself inside the room and just do my work but of course my mind is fleeting and wondering if he will be normal like any kids in the neighborhood.

I cried bucket already and I know that I have more tears coming but it will not stop me of believing that someday he will be with us like what I dream him to be.

It's sad but I have to deal with this one day at a time.

How about you?