Blooming Like a Flower

This by far has been the most impressive week ever. 2 years and 8 months of biomedical interventions, and in every step of the way I wanted some type of miracle. And perhaps because the improvements have been so gradient, that it felt like I wanted to just rip the autism out of his body faster but I couldn't. Every time we thought he was getting better, he would suddenly regress. But the most difficult part has always been the language barrier. He overcame lots of his sensory issues and it was easier to go places with him. But the language barrier kept him from playing, talking, socializing, into his own little and secured world. And every time I kept telling myself "I hope that someday I can talk to him and he can talk back to me". A few months ago, Vanessa, who is only 3.3 years old, understood me better. Talking to Jonathan meant using specific words, almost a special language. Computer game language "uh oh, please try again" if he made a mistake for instance.

This week something changed. I cannot grasp exactly when and what, but it is like a fog is lifting and Jonathan understands and can express and can converse. Not perfectly, but it is the beginning and I pray it only gets better. And it hit me today when I was standing in the kitchen talking to my father and he called my name, and pointing to the door frame he said "mommy, what is this called?" and I said door frame. He repeated it and then touched the wall and asked what it was called. Then I asked him if he knew the name of the ceiling and he didn't know so I told him. A few minutes later, I quizzed him and he remember the door frame and the wall, but not the ceiling. When I told him, he said "oh mommy, I that's right. I forgot. I remember now". He is using verb tenses much better, he is using pronouns more appropriately. Today in particular, he seemed to speak in long and well structured sentences. But more importantly, he is comprehending. Not perfectly, but better than ever.

One of my biggest focus has been working on conversational language. Having the kid talk and tell you stories or ask stories and share thoughts. That never truly happened before until this week. For the past few weeks, soon after the HBOT finished, he started trying to construct longer sentences, but as soon as he got stuck, he would quit. 2 weeks ago, he told me what he saw in a movie (which I think I wrote about it in this blog). But this week has been different, because he remembers space, and time and he is putting pieces of his own puzzle together. Now, when he talks to me he says "mommy, you told me before" or "mommy, you told me yesterday" or on Saturday or whatever day. And he doesn't forget what I said and when I said it. This week he has been able to tell me with more detail what he did during the day. He got hit today by a kid and when I asked him, he described rather clear the incident. I put him to bed tonight and started talking. He described his daily routine and even when he imagines what his grandfather does before he goes to pick him up. He told me that in the mornings, I put his Leapster on top of his grandfather computer. And grandpa comes come, picks it up and takes it with him to the summer camp. He leaves it in the car and goes inside to pick him up. Then Jonathan takes his name tag off his back and walks with Abuelito to the car. Abuelito says "Jonathan, aqui esta tu toy" and Jonathan says thank you and abuelito says "you're welcome". Then they come home and sometime he eats if he is hungry. Then he plays with his toy until mommy, daddy and Vanessa come home (which is about 1 hour later). The fact that he can articulate all that impressed me. He told me that when he falls asleep, his arms and legs and stomach and every thing falls asleep. He told me that when the sun comes up, he comes to my bed and lays with us for a while until I get up to take a shower and then he gets up to play PlayStation. He told me the names of his teachers. I have been asking him for 3 days or more. And today he said "mommy, I know my teachers names. Jessica and Dan. And" and he paused "my friend, I can't remember my friend's name" and I said DJ as I knew he was playing with that kid and he said "no mommy, yes, DJ is my friend, but my new friend" paused again "is Christopher" and I smiled. I almost wanted to cry actually. So I asked him how old Christopher was and he said "I don't know. I have to ask Christopher tomorrow then I tell you".

He still has trouble sharing. He still has many areas that need much work, but we are moving again. The train is moving in the right direction. He cannot control how loud he gets. That will take time. He is still shy when greeting. If people say hi, he still does not say hi back but he smiles back.

Continuing on the stool analysis, it is better. I can hardly see any mucous anymore. Just wanted to record this so I could go back to the date.