As a mom, we always want more for our children. We want them to have a good, happy, fulfilled life. We always worry for their safety and well-being...for me, worrying is something I do EVERY DAY for Arianna. What else can I do to help her? How can I come up with more money to pay for and try new treatments that could be THE ONE to get her to the next level? I also feel guilty that I'm not doing enough...enough of what I dont always know, but the feelings are always there. I try to remind myself daily that I'm doing all that I can, doing my best within my means and somedays i'm OK with that...others are the days that I cry myself to sleep and pray that somehow, someway I'll be able to give my little girl the chance of a REAL future.
Towards the end of 2006 and into 2007...Once we noticed some changes with the eye contact Arianna began to make and her actually wanting to be with us, pay attention & have attention from us the search was on! Arianna was wanting to be touched and cuddled more and more - - week by week she seemed to come out of that world she'd been trapped in for what seems like forever. Now knowing Arianna had signs and symptoms of autism, there are numerous books, articles and treatments to consider and it was overwhelming as to where to begin. Some things can help, some can't or don't but you'll never know unless you TRY...and TRYING was about to begin. One finding is that diet can effect autistic children due to them having digestive troubles, allergies and intolerances to things such as digesting gluten, caesin (dairy) and foods in general. Adjusting Arianna's foods as well as giving her digestive enzymes made some positive changes in her but not earth-shattering as what others experienced. In addition to diet/digestive aids, supplements containing added vitamins, amino acids and herbs was trial and error over months of trials. Some things aggrevated her behaviors and some calmed and helped showing improvement. Arianna was not verbal other then limited memorized words until about age 3. Toilet training also was no where near a possibility due to her lack of understanding of the whole concept. That was actual the least of my worries at that point really.
We found there are doctors out there who do various treatments, natural treatments and not medications but to hear that it would cost $300 or more just to get an appointment and THOUSANDS of dollars to TRY treatments and therapies was very discouraging news. SO...we were on the hunt to find someone to work with us and Arianna on a financial level that was afforable. Having been through various natural treatments himself, our special person knew of a doctor who agreed to run tests and was willing to try and help us using things we found may help Arianna. Bloodwork wasn't easy but managed....giving my little girl shots of B12 was even HARDER at first but after only a couple weekly and bi-weekly injections Arianna was starting to TALK!! Yes...another miracle step with lots of random babbling from memorization of videos and experiences, but she was TRYING! Not having verbal communication or a real conversation with your child is devistating but around Arianna's 3rd birthday she called me MOMMY!! B12 shots were done for about 3-4 months with more and more improvement verbally. When that seemed to taper off and giving the injections seemed to be at hers and mines limits, I stopped. The search for more options continued as it always will.
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