G. is a 7 year old boy with ASD. He is currently on a GFCF diet, Low Oxalate diet. He is currently undergoing Biomedical Intervention with Dra. Leones.  He is also doing ABA (3x a week), OT ( 3x a week) and Speech Therapy (1x a week). He goes to a school in Manila where he is taught to learn daily life skills on top of school.

He was actually diagnosed at age in August of 2014. His mom made an appointment with the pediatrician when she noticed that when compared to the older brother, this little boy’s eye contact and vocabulary deteriorated at around age 2.   Mom also noticed that G. had no attention span.

Before age 2, G. seemed to be developing normally. He had eye contact, and would say “ Hello” and wave for “Goodbye”. He crawled and stood on time. Although as a baby, he was fussy and would easily be woken up by sounds. By age 3, Mom removed G’s milk. She was already reading about how food like affected behavior.

At age 2 to 5 years old, G. was in the care of an O.T. who took care of his ABA, Speech and OT therapy 2 hours a day. At this point in time, G. was living in Mindanao, where therapists are hard to come by.   Although the O.T. did her best, there came a point in time at G. ‘s learning reached a plateau. G. by then knew his alphabets, shapes, colors and numbers. Mom decided to get another therapist because the 1st therapist had become busy and therapy was no longer as consistent as before.

G. was 5 when Mom made the brave decision to come to Manila to pursue therapy for him. They saw a new dev’t ped in Manila who recommended his current school. He had O.T. 3x a week, ABA 3x a week. He was also hyper at this point. He wasn’t recommended for speech therapy because he could barely sit down.

It was only when G. was six years old and at Mom’s insistence that G. finally had a speech therapist. Mom noticed that G. had very poor auditory skills. He had difficulty in speaking as well as listening. It took a year of training, but it was noticeable that G. could follow instructions. G. shows sound sensitivity to the sound of an airplane engine. Mom decided to undergo AIT (auditory integration training)  G. to help improve his auditory skills.

G’s mom was able to learn a lot of things from the therapists over the years. What’s G’s mom recalls the most is the moment when G’s ABA teacher taught her to do co-regulation with G. Mom is thankful for this learning, it enabled her to see that G. was able to learn more if she herself was calm.  There was no need to get upset while teaching. Mom finally realized that getting stressed or  angry while teaching your child was counterproductive. So, teaching sessions between Mom and G. changed from being stressful sessions, into calmer learning sessions.

Part of G.’s essential recovery was his yaya. G.’s yaya was a very patient person who would listen when the therapists taught her what to do and how to handle G’s willfulness. She was taught not to give in to his willfulness. She also condoned bad behavior. Mom is very thankful for Yaya (while she was still there) because she help make G. more compliant and easier to handle.

Mom’s expectations of AIT:

My expectation is to see any improvements in whatever aspect: language, behavior, socialization, focus and attention.

On the 1st day, G was compliant and would hold on to his favorite toy while being seated listening to the music. His mom would put a timer in front of him so that G would have an idea of how long he would have to stay seated.

2nd day G. surprised his yoga teacher by not being fidgety or “kiti kiti” as his mom would say. For the first time he did not have to wear his compression shirt. He was able to actually hold his yoga pose for 20 seconds. Before this he would often just run around.

3rd day. Mom noticed that G. ‘s response time has improved, his attention to flashcards has also improved and he responds to flash card questions more easily now unlike before.

8th day: G. is the kind of child that automatically wakes up at the slightest sound. Usually, when Mom turns off the aircon, G. even with his eyes closed will say “ ON AIRCON”, but today, Mom was pleasantly surprised, that G. didn’t wake up when Mom turned off the aircon.

9th day: This is the 2nd day that Mom has been able to turn off the aircon without waking up G. It is not a coincidence.

10th day. Mom says his audio and visual skills had improvement.   Mom shared this .

Therapists comment on G.’s notebook dated Feb 10, 2020:

G. mas generally compliant today.  A bit fidgety and restless but calms down after heavy work.  He shows good  listening skills and visual skills today.

This shares G.’s coloring. Note the coloring Before and the 10 days After coloring.

Please note the comparison Before and 10 days After Therapy, even the drawings are significantly different.

Mom is looking forward to the next AIT Session after 9 months after noting how even therapists have seen G’s improvements in the therapy sessions.