When Benjamin was born we celebrated the eagerly anticipated arrival of the family’s first grandson. Benjamin was welcomed into a delivery room populated with all three of his aunts, his godmother, and myself—his “Nana.” Despite Nadia’s very difficult pregnancy, Benjamin arrived on time and with a clean bill of health.
Unfortunately, the exceedingly strong start to life evidenced at the time of Benjamin’s birth and in the months that followed would all but disappear by the time Benjamin reached eighteen months old, when he was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder. This disorder is most strongly associated with autism.
Because up until the age of ten months Benjamin had met and exceeded his developmental milestones, no one could have imagined a diagnosis of this nature. Benjamin had showed signs of advanced development in the acquisition of language as early as ten months. He would exclaim “good!” whenever he ate food that he thoroughly enjoyed.
Benjamin’s behavior started to change dramatically when he turned eleven months old and received a combination of DTP, DTaP, DT, HIB, and influenza immunizations. Within one week of receiving these immunizations he started to become increasingly detached and disconnected. It was also evident that his cognitive development had become impaired.
Benjamin’s mental and emotional decline became a concern to the family. Nadia and Ken took him to the doctor repeatedly to voice their concerns about the changes they were observing, but were consistently told that Benjamin was doing well and that their concerns were unwarranted.
As the months passed, Benjamin’s condition greatly deteriorated. He began to experience mild seizures. At night he would cry, kick, and scream endlessly. As the frequency and duration of Benjamin’s fits increased, I feared that Nadia and Ken were engaged in a battle that they were not equipped to fight.
At a time when any couple could have succumbed to the confusion, frustration, and utter exhaustion that marked this troubling time in Benjamin’s development, Nadia and Ken refused to sit by and be crippled by despair and helplessness, but rather began conducting research to educate themselves about the causes, effects, and possible cures for autism and its related conditions. Soon after they acquired the information about Benjamin’s condition they embarked on a mission to employ best practices medically, emotionally, and spiritually to ensure that their son would get better.
At age three, Benjamin was showing remarkable progress. By paying close attention to Benjamin’s diet and following the instructions of a remarkable and determined naturopathic doctor, his speech and other cognitive functions took on a rapid growth. It’s a pleasure to report that at age seven Benjamin is now on grade level academically. He is a well-adjusted child who has brought much joy to our family.
