The last four and a half years have brought many changes into Galen's life, each one bringing him a little closer to us. We can now see a future for Galen, one that holds much promise.
Having been told that Galen would probably have to be institutionalised at about twelve years of age, we decided we would try everything we could to change that outcome and change it we did. So did he.
We have tried many different modalities and almost all had an effect on Galen, everything we have used in the last five years made a change for the better.
Almost three years ago we found that Secretin had been made available in this country and we sent an email off to a Queensland company called Secrenase. The highly qualified people running this company are just plain terrific. They so willingly explain some of the anomalies that are autism and really listen because they understand that you know your child best.
They helped me to gain control over the condition known as Dysbiosis (a bowel problem) and to detox Galen of many of the heavy metals that have caused us so many problems over the years. You just need to go and visit their website. Do your self a favour and read every part of the information there, even if you think you don't need it.
We have kept a check on Galen's detox by having his hair & stools tested at regular intervals. We were worried at times when his heavy metals seemed to rise but the reason for this was explained to us by Secrenase and steadily his Dysbiosis became less. Toilet training is no longer fun when your child reaches twelve. The team at Secrenase supported us brilliantly at all times and still do. For the first time in his life toileting is no longer a problem. The smell of Dysbiosis or Leaky Gut is incredibly bad. There is no other smell like it.
Another autistic boy I know has the opposite problem with his bowels, he is constipated and when he does go, the stool is so large he ends up with bleeding fissures and therefore is scared to go, which worsens his condition.
About six years ago we heard about a modality called NAET or Nambudripads Allergy Elimination Technique. This was a form of Kineisiology or muscle testing. There was only one practitioner in Australia and he was two states away from where we lived.
Sometime this year, we heard there was a NAET practitioner in Victoria. Considering this was a form of healing that would work well with what we were already doing we booked in and took Galen for his first treatment. We are willing to try anything that cannot harm him so off we went at some ungodly time of the morning to the clinic.
The Naet practitioner who is also a Naturopath also made a difference to Galen by clearing up some of his allergies. She showed us through Iridology or a scan of his eyes where the problems were. It was truly fascinating and informing to watch.
Galen's eyes were like all baby's to begin with, blue. We started to notice that they went from a clear blue to a stormy blue at around two years old. The brown haze crept in over the years and his eyes ended up a very muddy colour with no evidence of their lovely blue beginning.
Slowly we have fixed some of his allergies although not yet the worst allergy which is to milk His eyes are now clearer brown with the yellow mud colour disappearing and a blue ring around the edge.
We are having a rest from this for now and just doing the Secrenase because you still have to find the money for all this from somewhere but the outcome of this treatment has been painless and positive and we have all benefited from it.
Galen is turning 14 years old in March 2007 and is exceeding all my dreams for him. He has the voice of an angel and tells me he wants to sing in the choir at his new school. He plays piano and can read music and even write some of his own tunes.
People thought, and didn't refrain from telling me, that I allowed him to watch too much television. I monitored what he watched and limited him to Disney and similar movies. We gave him an old computer which he soon mastered, and lots of paper and pencils. When he first saw 'Wallace and Grommit' he was fascinated by the method used and asked for modeling clay. His ability to concentrate and his attention to detail are a great asset when making intricate models, which he has a great talent for. Here are a few of his efforts.
Despite what everyone thought, he does have an ambition in life, he would like to become an animator and we intend to do all we can to help him realise it. Trust me he is tenacious and never gives up on what he wants to do.
People have been quite vocal about me always pulling him up on any lack of manners, they thought it was enough that he could talk. I have always thought if he used manners it would be that much harder for people and especially peers to ignore or belittle him. It worked (sometimes you have to remind him) but he has lovely manners, and he certainly understands why he is using them.
Galen against all odds is starting secondary school this year, just a few periods to begin with, more to come as he learns to fit in (in his own way). I took Galen out of special school three years ago and put him into a small country mainstream school of only fifty kids, farm kids who didn't care to much about nike ticks or the latest fashions.
He started in grade 5 and only qualified for an aide for 16 hours so that is all he went to school for. The headmistress gave him every one of those hours to learn and his aide was like a second mother to him. The kids were fabulous and treated him as one of the clan and always knew exactly were he was at any given moment.
They kept him in grade six for two years , sometime through his last year the reading and writing really clicked, partly I think because of his obsession with typing up the credits from his movies and partly due to his wonderful aide.
When he graduated at the end of 2006 he wrote and read his own speech, played Jingle Bells and Austrian Waltz on the piano and for the first time ever, didn't want to leave the second "his thing" was over. I can tell you there wasn't a dry eye in the house.
To find an appropriate school for Galen's transition into his secondary school life we researched and did the rounds of what was available.
We decided to give him a catholic education, because for him to feel secure the school needed to have a really good pastoral care system. Having worked for the catholic education office in a catholic college, I knew that would be the best place for him.
Also he would lose his funding because he would be attending a private school. The way the funding is worked out now, he would be due for assessment at the end of his primary school life and although he may or may not receive funding for a state run school, it wouldn't be much and he wouldn't have a personal aide for that funded time.
As great as he is doing, he would still need an aide to keep him on track.
I would not trust the system to keep him as safe from bullies as I would like either.
We found a school in a town in country Victoria. We were so impressed with this school we decided to move house to be closer to the new school. Frank, my husband, drives 45 minutes to work from where we are situated now and from the new town it would be 30 minutes, so that was ok.
I started taking Galen up to the new school for a long transition, to get him familiar with the school, staff and students. He seems for the first time ever to be excited about this move. The school have been fantastic and are willing to do everything possible to help. He will start with 4 periods a week and as he progresses will attend up to 3 days per week.
They have asked myself and my daughter in law, Megan (the ABA therapist) to help teachers find appropriate strategies for dealing with any new or old behaviours that might surface with the onset of hormones. They have also asked me to go and give a talk to the students in his year, so that they may understand him better. They have hired an aide specifically for him while he is there with emphasis on breaks and lunch times. They have booked three of their staff into ABA classes to have an early understanding of what problems may arise. We couldn't ask for more than that.
The other two days will be taken up with socialisation, swimming, art lessons and life skills with me.
Galen is looking forward to attending his new school and even though it is an experiment we are all pledged to make it work. For all the work we have put in and for all the help in social skills our friends and family have contributed, none of it would have worked if Galen had dug his heels in and refused to be dragged into our world. I guess we finally managed to convince him that this was a great place too. We are very proud of him.
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Toddler Galen
A Lost Boy
The Long Climb Back
Secretin Therapy
Galen in 2004
Galen in 2007
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