Photos by Janie Lambert

Jessie Lambert/Reeves

Music by Smart Sound

He is autistic.

He did have his vaccines including the MMR but the signs of autism were there long before the inoculations. We do not feel vaccines had anything to do with his diagnosis. We do feel however that it is quite possibly the cause of other cases, as well as toxins in the air, food, water, toys and textiles that we are all exposed to every day. Genetics also play a big role.

Vaccines need to be green

After three evaluations, many tears and much frustration he was diagnosed with PDD-NOS with Asperger tendancies, at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore last year.

Isaac had been dismissed from  private pre-school and the first month of his kindergarten school year for anti-social behavior, aggressiveness and non-compliance. He was sent into the public school system. The private facilities were in no way capable of handling an autistic child.

We were blessed that his new kindergarten teacher took a deep and caring concern for Isaac.She never had an autistic child in her classroom before. We provided books and literature for  her and she researched everything she could find. With  the school nurse and guidance counselor, a learning program was set into motion for Isaac, without putting him into a special education class.

We knew very early on something just  wasn't right with Isaac. He was very sensitive to sound, light and textures. As a new born, he would not tolerate any bottle nipple that  we tried.  We finally  bought a sippy cup with tiny little holes. This is how he took his meals. It was strange  because he loved his pacifier, but only one kind. Isaac was a very fussy baby and never seemed to be happy.

As a toddler he was very obsessive in his play.  He was always repetitive, lining things up in a certain order,  always had his pad and paper which we attributed to Blue's Clue's and his notebook.

The child took notes constantly and did not leave the house with out his notebook. While this was the craze with many toddlers and pre school children, Isaac carried it over the line. He became fascinated with road signs and begged us to take  them for him. His mom luckily ordered some play ones off the Internet. I spent hours printing out stop signs, yield signs, railroad crossings and cutting them out. Isaac would play quietly for hours with the cut out pieces of paper.

He always preferred to play alone and did not join in with other children even as a toddler. This was much worse after he started pre-school.

Isaac also had an obsession with hair. No matter who he met he had to touch their hair and twist it or rub their head. He still to this day wants to touch his care giver's (mother, daddy, me or his day care provider's) hair when he is tired or upset.

Certain textures of food would gag him and dressing him became a nightmare.

I could go on and on with examples that mirror the examples of thousands of other children diagnosed on the autism spectrum.

They all display the same tendencies, some less and some so much more severe.

Isaac is on the high end of the spectrum. He is on the honor roll in mainstream classes. He does have an IEP every six months. Learning is very important to him and he gets very upset if he thinks he has not excelled. He like most Asperger kids, can take a computer apart and put it back together again.

He is no longer aggressive but prefers to be left alone and will rarely join in social activities. This is an on going project at home and at school.

You can see in the slide show photos he has improved greatly.

Early diagnosis and intervention is key. Research and understanding is essential, putting the child or adult's safety and well being first.

We have no doubt that Isaac can be what ever he chooses to be and excel in his life. He may never be the life of the party or Mr. Socialite of the year, but he is on his way!

MY grandson Isaac

The Faces of Autism

http://www.kennedykrieger.org/video/abc_worldnews.wmv

http://www.kennedykrieger.org/kki_diag.jsp?pid=1072