The Story Of Daniel

I will never forget Valentine's Day in 1994. That was the day that my son Daniel was born. He was 7 lbs, 11 oz, healthy in every way! I was a proud mom of 3, and definitely done having babies. I was 27 years old, and knew that I would only have the three wonderful kids that I had.

Days after I brought Daniel home from the hospital, I noticed that he had trouble 'latching on' while breastfeeding. He would fall asleep frequently during feeding, and I needed to gently touch his face to wake him to make him feed. I contacted the pediatrician, and I was told that as long as he kept wetting his diapers and gaining weight, he was fine. He did gain weight and wet his diapers.

Then Daniel,  at age 4 months, started to develop ear infections, and was placed on antibiotics to help clear the infection. Months later, he developed another ear infection, and was again placed on antibiotics. I stated my concern to the pediatrician about these frequent infections, and I requested an evaluation from an ear/nose throat MD. His reaction was "No, you don't need that yet" This was after 6 ear infections in only one year. At age 12 months, Daniel did not coo or babble, give eye contact, or interact with anyone. He was in his own world, fixated on objects. He was a good baby, never cried, but never interacted even with me. My heart sank. I mentioned my concerns to the MD, but he said "All kids develop at different times, don't worry"

Daniel Turned 2, and still did not have any means of communication or eye contact. He was fixated on objects. He would continuously spin wheels of toy cars, dazely stare at spinning ceiling fans, and then he started to have tantrums for no apparent reason. He would have rages, throwing toys and scream for hours at a time, every day. I called his pediatrician, but he simply stated that he would grow out of his terrible two's.

Daniel turned 3. Along with frequent ear infections, Daniel still did not communicate in any way, did not maintain eye contact, and was having several tantrums daily with headbanging and screaming. I contacted Early Interventions for an evaluation, and finally after meeting with them, they decided to intervene. Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Physical Therapy was placed.

After 1 year of therapy, Daniel made minimal progress. Even after ABA and intensive speech therapy, he was mainly nonverbal, and still did not interact with others. His tantrums were frequent, and finally at that time, his pediatrician ordered a consult with a ENT MD. Daniel finally got tubes in his ears. The surgeon mentioned to my husband: "I never saw ears with this much fluid!"

Six months later we moved to Florida due to the warmer weather and hopes for our son to heal. We then enrolled him in Kindergarden in a Speech Language Impaired Class in school.

At a consistant and slow pace, and at five years old, Daniel began to speak, and he began to read. He did not understand what he was reading, but he was able to decode words. The next year, with the teachers coercing, I soon thought that Daniel was OK,  and in the middle of first grade, at age 7, all services were dismissed. He was mainstreamed. It was then when things continued to decline.

In second grade, the teacher called me to tell me that Daniel was not getting anything done in class, and that he 'was in his own world, not interacting with anyone'. I pulled him out of public school and placed him in a small private school with small classes. He repeated second grade. In the private school, even in small classes, he still was not able to finish his work. He still was not interacting with anyone. He had no friends, and had no interest in them. He was isolated. I Placed him in soccer to try to help him out. He had no idea how to follow directions during the game, did not interact with anyone, so the coach would have him 'sit' frequently.

It was when he was in fifth grade that I had to do something different for him. Nothing at that time seemed to work for him, and he was slipping into a deep depression. As much parental support was given to him, nothing seemed to help. I again had him evaluated, and we transferred Daniel to Longleaf Elementary for the autism program. He seemed to function OK there, but he was still aloof and not interested in socially interacting with peers.

The next year, Daniel was crying daily, and was not able to function well. He was having daily tantrums, and did not want to return to school. He had no friends dispite many attemts from parental help. I met with teachers frequently, but nothing seemed to help him. The teachers, as much as they cared for him, had no idea how to 'help' him. In final desperation, I started homeschooling Daniel.  As time went on with homeschooling, he began to become happier and his tantrums stopped. He asked about getting with friends. I started the social skills group, and since then, he has been happier.

He verbalizes that he wants to make friends with the group members, and even calls them on the phone at times with minimal help!

I am so happy about his progress. I am very happy that he is happy.