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BECKLEY, W.Va. (AP) — Kelly Thompson grieves for the days before her 6-year-old son Wyatt became a full-time student. Those long, lazy days she enjoyed spending at home with her little boy.
But though she wishes she could keep the Daniels Elementary kindergartner little forever, the joys of watching him successfully navigate his first year as a "big boy" is probably worth the tradeoff.
Wyatt, Thompson explains, was like all babies, hitting every milestone until he was 15 months old.
"He just stopped talking, stopped laughing, stopped playing," she said. "He sat and stared at the wall for months and months after that and just cried."
Thompson said she and her husband were at a loss and uncertain were to turn for help. "The pediatrician said, 'some kids just do that,'" she recalled. "We took her word for a little while and he didn't come out of it."
Three months later, Thompson ran into Angela Akers, who works with Janet Lintala at Autism Health, formerly The Autism Recovery Resource Center.
"I had been friends with Angela for years and when she said, 'How's my little man (Wyatt)?' I broke down," she said. "She put her arm around me and said, 'tell me what's going on.'"
Akers guided Thompson to Autism Health, where she said Lintala began "connecting dots I couldn't quite connect."
Thompson said she received information on autism and, "the more I read through it, I said, 'yep this is it.' I knew it was autism. All the way down the page."
After an evaluation, Lintala made diet recommendations, suggesting digestive enzymes and probiotics to help to promote beneficial bacteria.
"In the back of my mind, I'm thinking, I don't know what any of this has to do with speech delays or his new tendencies," Thompson said.
But she and her husband Stephen decided to try anything that wouldn't harm their son.
"I wasn't expecting much," she said, "but it was amazing to see the difference with his acid reflux, irritable bowel and all these things. He was calmer and didn't cry nearly as much and you could tell his mind was starting to clear."
That's something Lintala says research shows. Treating the underlying health problems caused by autism can actually help improve the quality of life of an autistic person and help him function at a higher level.
And as Wyatt began to feel better, Thompson said that's exactly what happened.
"Every now and then he would look at us and make eye contact," she said. "Eventually, he would interact with us again. Six or eight months in, he wanted snuggles and hugs and wanted us to play with him again.
"He still had issues, but less severe."
Through it all, Wyatt worked with a battery of therapists — speech, occupational and physical — who helped him along his journey.
Thompson says another thing that has helped was learning the results of a food sensitivity and intolerance study Wyatt underwent when he was 3.
"His results came back off the charts," she said. "He tested for 96 foods and was sensitive to about half of them."
It turned out, she said, Wyatt was having digestive tract and constipation issues of which she was unaware. After instituting a special elimination diet — also at the suggestion of Lintala — she said those issues cleared.
"It was amazing how much better he was," she said.
Wyatt is still categorized is non-verbal, although Thompson says he does speak now.
"He doesn't have spontaneous speech," she said. "He can't answer a question. He'll repeat a question because he doesn't understand he's supposed to respond to that and he doesn't know how to respond."
There's an exception to that, however. Through many hours of hard work, Wyatt has learned to answer basic direct questions.
"I can ask him, 'what do you want?' and he can say, 'I want ice cream, please,'" she said. "But I can't ask him general questions and expect to get an answer.
In recent weeks, he's learned his name and in the past few days, he's learned to answer 'yes' and 'no' questions.
Hearing her child say his name for the first time was something Thompson said she'll never forget.
"I was in tears," she said. "You watch your kid struggle every day. He works so hard every day to learn things typical kids do."
But there's one area in which he's never struggled.
"He can read and he reads well," Thompson said. "I work with him every day."
Learning Wyatt was autistic, Thompson said, was heartbreaking, as she began to question the future she had always imagined for her little boy.
"You kind of go through a grieving period. It's almost like you lost your child at first. You know they won't have the life you envisioned, maybe won't drive a car, have a girlfriend or have a job.
"As a parent, you have this tiny, little baby and you're thinking, one day you'll be a big boy and you'll go to prom with a girl and go off to college. So you kind of grieve for a while."
But Thompson's grieving period was short, and she that's important, because the key is remaining hopeful and searching for help.
And knowing that both exist.
"You go through a grieving phase, yes, but once you come out of it be grateful you were blessed with a child.
"It's not a death sentence," she continued. "It's not the end of the world."
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Information from: The Register-Herald, http://www.register-herald.com
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