4Paws 4Curtis
An Autistic boy and his Service dog.
Welcome
Junior was diagnosed at the age of 5 and it wasn't easy getting a diagnosis, it was a very long and tough road. We started noticing something wrong with Junior when he was around 14 months old, when he was 2 yrs he was put on Ritalin for A.D.H.D. He was very hyper and angry and down right MEAN. The medicine he was taken was not working well for him it seemed as if it did not even touch the symptoms so they put him on a stronger dose and just kept going from there.
At 3 yrs old he had seen many specialist. We had doubts that he was A.D.H.D (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) because not only did he have angry meltdowns, he had speech, social and sensory issues. He would not look at us. He would hit, scream, kick, bite, growl, hiss, grind his teeth, and roll his eyes back to the back of his head. He started not liking food that he used to love eating in the past and lost his appetite. He couldn't touch, smell or even look at any of the foods that he no longer liked.
By 3 1/2 he started early intervention and during that time he was tested for Autism through the regional office for the school district he was in at the time. With their scale for the Autism Spectrum he tested basically 26 points above the lowest points for being considered being on the spectrum. Because he was at that time starting to make little eye contact and being social very little they decided NOT to label him as Autistic. They said they would retest him in around another 6 months, to give him more time to get used to being at school. Well because he was doing good in class everything stayed the same as far as his needs for early intervention and he was never reevaluated. During all of this time he was seeing his primary Doctor on a regular basis. Getting proper medication and helping us as far as dealing and controlling his meltdowns. But now he not only did not have A.D.H.D (as they said) he also had an anxiety issues. He would never want to be far from me (Mom). I could not drop him off at school his grandfather had to do it. It was so traumatic for him to see me leave him at school that it was best that I didn't take him and drop him off. I wanted to make it less stressful for him as I could. Even being put on medication for anxiety he still had a problem with separation from me.
By the time he was 4 he has been on several different medications ( approx. 6 -7 ). He was put on 1 Medication along with the medication being taken for A.D.H.D and Anxiety. This medication was an anti- psychotic drug to help with his moods and anger. He took that medication for 2 days and that came to a halt. That second morning of taken the medication he began having Seizures. He was very lethargic and in and out of sleep. During this time he was having trimmers about every 5 - 10 minutes. Well that was not Junior, I knew there was something Seriously wrong. We took him to the closest hospital and later transferred to Emanuel. At Emanuel he was given a medication to stop the seizures and was under very close observation. Watching your child go through this is so frightening; We felt so helpless and so sorry for him having to go through this. By the time the medication stopped the seizures he was so out of it, because of being so tired from the seizures and the medication to stop the seizures they had to give him a sedative. He was so tired and was out for about 14 hours. By the next evening he was able to go home. It was determined that he was having a bad reaction to the new medication he was put on prior. No one ever knew that this would happen.
At 5 Junior started a mainstream Elementary school in a Special needs class. He also started receiving More appropriate therapy that he needed in and outside school. At age 5 Junior has been on 9 different medications because 1 would not work they would try another. But fortunately has remained on the same since, With dosage adjustments only.
Curtis is doing very well now. He is getting the therapy and education that is best for him. He is making eye contact about 85% of the time. He still has his meltdowns oh about 5 -6 a week sometimes a few a day, we are working on a calming technique to help him calm down.
The doctor that diagnosed him is a blessing to us. With all the Doctors that we seen and everyone that we spoke with I will always be forever Grateful. Not only did he give our son a diagnosis, but also he was the only one that did not tell us "HAVING A DIAGNOSIS IS NOT IMPORTANT". He was the only one that agreed with us and understood why we needed a diagnosis.
It was a very long and hard 4 1/2 years for us, and it will be a journey for years to come, but now we have a diagnosis it will make it easier to get the appropriate care that he needs.
Robin Cottengim
