Some History...

We welcomed Phoenix into our family on November 24, 2007. I was 37 weeks pregnant at the time, but our little boy came into this world weighing 3 lb. 14 oz. Come to find out later it was due to a blood clotting disorder I didn't know that I had at the time. Phoenix scored low on his Apgars, was groaning, and did not cry (he never has cried to this day). He was sent to Children's Hospital in Milwaukee where he spent his first three weeks of life surrounded by loving nurses, visitors, and family. Doctors there found that Phoenix had been experiencing minor seizures, which went away after a few months time.

As Phoenix grew, we noticed that he didn't meet the normal developmental milestones that he should have. There were times where we would say, "can he see?", "can he feel pain?", "can he hear?", "can he talk?", etc. Phoenix was involved in the Birth to Three program from the age of 3 months to 3 years. At the age of 3 he started Early Childhood Education.

Due to his developmental and social delays, we had him evaluated at age three to see if there was anything that the neuropsychologist could tell us. After extensive testing, and 4 long visits later, they informed us that Phoenix had Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified, which is to say Phoenix diagnosis falls on the low end of the Autism Spectrum.

As parents, we wanted to do everything that we could for our little man. We implemented a gluten-free and caisen-free diet, which has helped tremendously. At age four Phoenix is acedemically developed every bit of his four year age; however in other areas of developement Phoenix is still at a 2.5 year old level or below. Trying to be an informed parent, we searched the internet looking for a way to help Phoenix. This is when we stumbled upon a site for Brain Balance Centers which uses a natural, non-drug approach to normalizing brain and body functions. We are fortunate to have a center in Mequon, about 40 minutes away from our home. After talking to parents who have sent their children to Brain Balance with positive success, we started taking Phoenix as of 11/28/2011. This blog is Phoenix's Journey towards an improved way of life.

How It All Started...

A few months ago, I was researching Autism and options to help Phoenix with his PDD-NOS and came across a website for Brain Balance: Achievement Centers. As I looked at the site, I noticed that there were seminars in the area that gave an overview of the program. On a Wednesday night, my mother and I went to meet Dr. Jeremy Fritz and hear a lecture on what Brain Balance is all about and what the program entails. My mother and I were very impressed. It made complete sense... Through research they understand that the underlying cause of many of the disorders is a functional imbalance of brain activity between the right and left sides of the brain. After much discussion and reading the book Disconnected Kids by Dr. Melillo (the founder of Brain Balance) we scheduled an appointment to have Phoenix evaluated to see if he was a good candidate for the program. A week later, we met with Dr. Fritz who went threw the evaluation results. Being very cautious I recieved a list of parents that have taken their children to Brain Balance and asked them about their children, their experience, and what thoughts they may have. It was AMAZING! They had success with their children. There was one parent I talked to that her son was nonverbal and within the first 4 weeks he started to talk. There was a parent as well that her son had sensory issues and was not calm at all and within weeks he was calmer. The mothers I talked to, including one I met in the waiting room today, said that the time and expense were worth the success their children have had with Brain Balance. A few days later, I called and signed Phoenix up for this new program. I can't wait to see the little or big successes that Phoenix will have. http://www.brainbalancecenters.com/

Monday, March 5, 2012

Week 13

I am so thankful to have Phoenix attend a school where he is loved by his teachers. I am also appreciative of the two-way communication that we have on a regular basis. Phoenixs teacher, Mrs. Killinger, sent me an email this week stating that Phoenix has been anxious lately, especially when the schedule is not going his way or he wants the activities to move along. He does have this issue at home, but we are able to redirect him pretty well and give him an ultimatum. His teacher asked if I had any suggestions. Things that work for Phoenix at home or at church are his weighted vest, an arm around his body as if giving a hug while sitting next to him, or redirection. The next day they had an all-school assembly and were able to use the weighted vest. As told to me, when they first entered the gym, he was excited and flapped his arms, but then settled down. I was happy to hear it. As always they thanked me for suggestions and said they would let me know what works for them. They also said that Phoenix was blessed to have parents that know him so well. I feel that from the beginning that has always been the case, especially since he has never cried and he didn't speak.


On a fun note... We took Phoenix to see his first movie in a theater! We saw Dr. Suess's The Lorax. We thought he would enjoy it since it would be colorful and have fun music. We wanted to give him the full experience, so we had popcorn and M&Ms (sorry Dr. Fritz). Phoenix payed attention quite well, with some sitting in his chair and standing in front of his chair. We had a lot of fun sharing this experience with Phoenix and hope to do it again someday soon!
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