11/29/05
Dad here (Anton)…

I have been so incredibly busy taking care of our advertising clients
and Web clients and magazine clients over the course of the last few
months that I have been out of the loop for posting. This, despite
the fact that I am the writer in this family.

I am remiss…

So now I find myself in the early dark night of late fall (Nov.
29th), finally spending time to add my completely biased two cents to
Tony’s therapy blog (apparently a first in our community).

It has been an incredible journey, these last 4 months (August-
November) of 2005.

When Tony acquired his initial diagnosis of Autism on July first, we
had no idea what his future held.

We knew a few things about Tony though: he was gorgeous (I know,
completely superficial, but an attribute nonetheless); he was
energetic; he was VERY adept at fine motor skills and coordination
(witness his very autistic behavior of stacking small objects sky
high); he loved music and had/has very specific tastes (Tony loves
Billy Joel, Jimmy Buffet, Joe Jackson, Van Morrison, Macy Gray,
India.Arie) and if Marlaina tried to play ANY “Hair Bands” he would
freak out (good boy!)…and strangely enough, he hated some of the
Broadway Musicals we love. BUT…he has seen Rocky Horror Picture
Show and HAIR! (he loves the music…and hey, I don’t think this is
wrong for a toddler) and he really, really, REALLY loves a lot of the
peacenik hippie tunes that Peter Paul & Mary sing, and he LOVES Joan
Baez, The Birds, Mommas & Poppas, The Beatles, Cat Stevens, CSN&Y (Teach
your Children Well!), Old Bruce Springsteen, George Thorogood (Bad to
the Bone), and a few others my scrambled brain can’t remember…

We knew he loved a lot of repetitive behavior. He closed doors. Then
opened them. Them slammed them shut. And reopened them anew. A game
he could play for hours, if allowed. He liked to be all alone…by
himself…totally isolated.

We knew he loved cheese sandwiches. And cheese. And bread. And pasta.
(We later found out just how incredibly addictive these substances
were for him, and discovered there effects on his development)

We knew that he did NOT like being held or being kissed or being
touched (for the most part) or basically interrupted in whatever he
was doing. We knew that he NEVER ever pointed at anything. Not even
once.

We knew he had a hard time looking at animate objects…like us. Or
others. Or even animals…

We knew he never said one single word that sounded like an actual
word. Although prior to his first birthday he did have a few words,
and one of them was DaDa Har Har…a word he reserved exclusively for
seeing me (his dad).

We knew that Tony’s attention span was about .5 seconds…and then it
was off to the next interesting thing. Unless he was stacking stuff
over and over and over again.

So…we knew knew a lot about Tony. And what we knew was so atypical
of what we had experienced with previous children…oy vey.

I fast forward…

This is what we know about Tony today: Tony now hugs
people…especially me when he has just gotten up from a nap. Tony
now looks people in the eye…playfully, provocatively, and (most
importantly) interactively! Tony has language skills…he can ask for
things, he can take us to what he wants, he can point at things of
interest to him. He has words. He has counting skills. Tony can sing.
He can dance. He can concentrate on a task and complete it. He can
learn new skills, and then repeat what he learned (tasks). He can
focus and concentrate!

Tony is also on a Gluten/Casein Free Diet, and takes a daily regime
of very specific B vitamin complexes. We have seen what going off
this “diet” can do to him…and it isn’t pretty.

In short, Tony’s development has gone (in 4 months) from that of a 6-
month old to that of a two-year old. If it wasn’t for his speech
delays, you would think that you were around a typically-developing 2-
year old.
Granted, Tony still has some weird little habits…he likes the feel
of sheepskins…he needs to fall asleep with a specific stuffed
animal toy (chenille)…his eating habits are still sort of centered
around pseudo carbs…and he still occasionally indulges in
repetitive play.

Just in the past week Tony has done a few TOTALLY amazing things
which he never before did. After I arrived home from class on Monday
night he ran to the gate dividing his space from our foyer and waved
at me coming in the door and said (emphatically) HI!!!!!!

He also played a game of “hide and seek” with me while I was in my
chair. He came over to one side of my desk chair, and when I spun
around to say “hi” to him, he raced behind me to the other side of my
chair…hiding from me. I spun the other way around to greet him and
he responded by running the opposite directing behind my chair. He
did this three times before I just started laughing out loud. He was
obviously “hiding” from me. What an awesome display of imagination
and game-play! He has additionally started saying “DaDa” in context
with me. For example, this morning when I left the play area to make
breakfast for Marlaina he followed me to the gate and repeated “DaDa”
a few times in a somewhat angry voice. When I poked my head around
the corner and down the hallway he said “DaDa” again and then ran
back to what he was doing.

I think that above and beyond all of his progress, the most amazing
part of his development has been his interaction with us. Where
before he was completely uninvolved in our lives, and
uninterested…he is now completely engaged in our lives, and even
looks to us for approval of tasks he performs. Four months ago we
would have NEVER thought he’d create (or desire) this sort of rapport
with others around him. This week he has even started petting the dog
and cats. He notices them. He wants to know more about them. He wants
to be involved with them.

An incredible voyage of discovery for him, these last few months. We
could not have done it without the help of some key people in his life.

Tony’s two ABA therapists, Whitney and Elizabeth, have been a
cornerstone of his development. Their patience and guidance and
interaction has played such a key role in his development that I
should spent a page on them. Well, I plan on doing that…probably in
a few months. Whitney and Elizabeth have been our daily companions
with Tony, and his personal interaction with them has helped in ways
we’ll always be grateful for. They have been his Front Line of
teaching…and they have both done amazing jobs. Tony loves them
them…unconditionally.

Tony’s Early Interventionist Megan has been a blessing of epic
proportion for us. She has, in short, navigated the maze of services
for us that we would have never managed alone. On top of that, Tony
has shown a genuine affection for her, and even recently started
greeting her and patting the seat next to him for her sit down. He
obviously adores her as part of his “crowd.”

Tony’s speech therapist Jill has been absolutely indispensable for
us. Tony has learned to sign and speak his needs and desires. This,
almost more than anything else, has been profoundly important for his
development. Without Jill (and early on, Jana), I seriously doubt I’d
be typing this narrative. The first person that Tony ever really said
“hi” to…in fact, he said “Hi Jill” just this past week. Even when
Tony is completely tired and out of sorts and not interested in doing
anything…Jill can get him back on task. This is truly amazing.

Lastly, we have our friend and neighbor Toni to thank for helping us
get started down this interesting path towards “recovery” for our son
Tony. Her knowledge, insight, and availability to us has made this
journey a smooth one. For that, we will forever be indebted.

I look forward to then next four months!

And with that, I will sign off. For now.