Our Boy Wonder's Story

Niko's story is quite simple, really. He was born seven years ago, a 10+ pound baby who hit all the usual baby milestones. Then he stopped talking, and just seemed so unhappy and frustrated. He preferred to be left alone. It wasn't overnight, and we didn't know any other three year olds to compare him to. He became, as our former pediatrician noted, "a wild child."

And so somewhere along the way, autism took him in under its wing. It's our belief that a mix of genes and a toxic environment that made him develop autism. Did vaccines contribute? We don't know for sure. But three years later, his measles titers are so high as to exempt him indefinitely from booster shots. So yeah, I think they played a part.

We're not unique: our family's journey through autism has been one that's been lived by thousands of others. We cried over the diagnosis, but couldn't get a straight answer on what therapies would help Niko the most. So we read everything we could find. We enrolled him in special ed, but it was only for 6 hours a week - so we set up an intensive program at home. We cursed insurance for providing a pittance of speech and occupational therapies, so we paid for them ourselves, going broke in the process.

After nearly four years, our home program is still going strong. We're committed to recovering as much of the little person who'd been with us prior to 2004, while respecting and celebrating who he is today. We've never given up on the idea that Niko will recover from autism - it's just a matter to what degree.

We're raising money to take Niko to the Autism Treatment Center of America for a weeklong intensive program. The week will focus on building natural social interactions using the things that interest him. While it's important for a child to be taught numbers and letters and how apply them appropriately, I would argue that being able to connect with others over one's lifetime: make friends, fall in love, parent a child, and feel connected to other people in the world - is the greatest gift we can give back to him.