This is a post about our fourth son. Zak is very special to us as he is a special gift from God just for us. Zak came into our home on October of 2003. He had just turned one and was a very sick boy. He came to live with us as a pre - adoptive foster child.
When Zak came to our home he was very sick and had not been cared for properly. Through much love, time and many many doctor's visits Zak improved considerable. We were thrilled to finally be able to adopt him in 2004. The court room was filled with our friends and family and with one happy Mom and Dad - and four excited kids. Our family had grown!!
Despite the love and care that we had given Zak through the months, we still found him to be delayed in some key areas of development. We continued to give him time to mature - (his beginning had been less than ideal and he did need more time to gain the time he had lost through neglect) - and continued to talk with the doctors about our concerns. Finally we were referred to a neurologist. After thoroughly studying Zak,and putting him through many tests, he diagnosed him with autism. We are awaiting therapy for him and continue to work with him to bring him as far as he is able to go academically It has been an exciting challenge and we have seen great improvements in his development.
This week we have experienced a set back. We have seen his speech delayed and at times he is unable to communicate with us at all. He is very frustrated and the doctors are very puzzled. We have found ourselves this week looking at possibilities we would rather not have to think about. They are looking at the possibilities of a seizure or a stoke. We are waiting for test results and more tests to be run. We plan on keeping everyone updated on his progress through the blog page here.
It is so neat to know that God has a perfect plan for everything. We are so thankful to have Zak in our home and know that God gave us a special gift in our son. We are blessed beyond words with is presence in our home and his smile can light up the darkest of days! We are praying for God's direction and wisdom in the next few days as we seek to find out what is wrong with him. Thanks for your prayers we will keep you posted.
1 comment:
I Just happened to stumble across your journal today. And I was reading some of the back entries and came across this one. I wanted to share something with you. I am studying to become a Child Behavior Specialist and Early Childhood Educator. In some of my special education classes Autism has came up (of course). We do some clinical hours at local labs and what not and special schools that test on how to better teach autistic children. I have truly loved these experiances. Last semester the parents agreed to do a "test" with us. REMOVE ALL GLUTEN, have a gluten free diet. The children had instant behavior changes for the better. Please, please, please GOOGLE this. Try for a few weeks, it isn't hard. I am sure you will see some postive results. Children with Autism lack something to break down the Gluten, it cause behavior problems, delays and even aggresion. Feel free to email me Jrriteman@gmail.com with any questions. I really believe that everything happens for a reason, maybe me reading your journal was to tell you this! Take care!
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