Hi, I’m Henry and I have Autism.
My Mommy & Daddy are trying to help me have a better quality of life for the future using the Son-Rise Program® home teaching course.
Henry is 6 years old and is a handsome, happy, fun loving little boy who loves to bounce on his trampoline, play tickle monster, play catch and football and loves to watch his favourite DVD’s. He also loves to play with his two older sisters.
Henry was diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum in June 2007 when he was 2 years and 10 months old.
Henry was a very placid, seemingly content baby until Christmas Eve 2004 when he was 5 months old (we remember it well!). That was the first time he woke up in the night in great distress and this lasted until we sought help from the health visitor in November 2006. As well as his sleep Henry was a very unhappy little boy, he was so clingy and got so very stressed in new situations or in large groups and big and busy environments. He didn’t seem to have any motivations, if a toy fell away from him that he was playing with he made no attempt to try and get it by moving or crying, he was virtually mute and didn’t seem to have any connections to the people around him. He showed no emotion and spent most of his time watching the same film over and over again.
Around October 2006 we started to realise that it was more than just the fact he was a boy and we were used to girls or that he was the 3rd child and he was pulled from pillar to post all the time. When we finally looked into Autism the information we found was frightening for us. It was really as if they had met Henry and were writing about him.
After the visit from the Health Visitor we did voice our concerns and Henry was put forward for speech therapy. The speech therapist and the hearing doctor were also concerned by Henry’s behaviour and he was referred to the Child Development Centre where he was first assessed in March 2007 and diagnosed in the June by a very caring Dr Baxi. We were very lucky to have a positive experience during the diagnosis and we can only say that everyone involved was very kind and tactful and respectful of Henry and us for which we are very grateful.
Following his diagnosis Henry was due to start school nursery in the September. Holland House were very pro-active and organised 1-1 care for Henry with Donna Miller. Henry’s introduction into education was for the first 3 months traumatic. Henry was extremely distressed by the whole experience. However with the support and ongoing dedication from Holland House nursery staff and Mark Hill, from Specialist Support Services, Henry really flourished and by the end of the year he had made leaps that none of us thought possible. The little boy who would bite cables and hit out in September was running into nursery, hanging his coat up, collecting his name card, sitting for the register and lining up with his family group at the end of playtime. But most importantly he actually interacted with some of the other children which was amazing. We will always feel indebted to Mark, Donna, Mrs Birch and Mrs Smith for Henry’s growth and development and also to all the other children in the foundation stage who only ever welcomed Henry.
After Henrys dramatic developments at nursery it took alot of soul searching to arrive at the decision to remove Henry from formal education and educate at home under the Son-Rise programme.
Our decision is based on the fact that Henry struggles with social laws and cues of our society and that it should be on these aspects that we should concentrate. If Henry is unable to acheive the 4 fundamentals in the Son-Rise social Curriculum (eye contact, communication, interactive attention span & flexibility) he will not be in a position to fully learn the rest of what our society demands.
When we went to the first Son-Rise course in February we were both completely inspired by what we heard. For the first time it really made sense to us. We didn’t want Henry to know his alphabet or spell his name, we wanted him to have a friend, to want to be with people, to be able to cope in a loud, bustling place…. For us that was a major step. With neuro-typical children you are used to working to the ‘school curriculum’ – learning their colours, numbers, shapes, to write, to read – when you are faced with the needs of a special child you actually begin to realise how important the social aspects are. Henry was 3 and a half before he waved to me, which was the most glorious moment. When Henry shouts ‘mummy’ or ‘daddy’ we are truly grateful as there was a time when he wouldn’t have even wanted us let alone said our names.
Son-Rise taught us to love our special children for who they are not who you thought they would be – no matter how hard that is. We all want the best for our children, for us Son-Rise gives us the best chance to reach our little boy and to change all of our futures.
It is with trepadition, excitement and love that we step forward into the next stage of Henry’s life. On 15th August Henry was 4 and for the first time he seemed excited by his birthday, saying ‘wow’ when he saw his presents. For us that was testament to everyone who has come into contact with Henry and what we have all bought to him and we are hoping for so much more on his 5th birthday! His sisters, who have always been his lifeline to our world and who have made such a difference to him with their patience and unswerving dedication, his grand-parents for always trying with him (and especially for my mom who had all 3 children for 2 separate weeks while we attended the Son-Rise Programme – its made all the difference mom!), his little friends at Nursery and especially Josh and Oliver, his partners in crime!, Mark and Donna, you were amazing and gave me some sanity back, thank you!, our friends who without you I don’t think this would be possible, and also Cauldwell Children’s Charity who made it possible for us to attend the Son-Rise programme and the opportunity to create a new future, and last but not least, the son-rise team, simply, Thank you… So Son-Rise, here we come!
