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Welcome to the Lil'David Richards hope page!
I would like you to meet Lil' David. He is 3 years old and has autism.
Contrary to popular belief, Autism is not retardation or mental illness.
It is a developmental disorder that affects speech, learning and social skills.
Autistics tend to be Physically perfect unlike children with down's syndrome or mental retaration. In other words, you can't tell by looking.
It is still largely misunderstood and often misdiagnosed.
The doctors thought David was deaf at first and his behavior seemed to confirm it. You could yell in his ear and he would not react at all.
We began to suspect something else was wrong, because he did not act deaf all the time. For example; we could play one of his videos when he was out of the room and he would come running.
We took him to another physician who finally determined that he had something else wrong with him. When she said it was autism. It was like a life sentence. We spent several months in complete denial.
Then we began to read and research the disorder and found that it was not as hopeless as it initially seemed. We found several treatments that had been successful for other parents and tried several without success.
So now we just deal with it day to day and try not to get discouraged.
We have hope that in time David will get better. It is not unheard of for autistics to suddenly emerge from the shell that they live in.
If David does not improve That is fine as well.
Autistics can often live productive lives if we accept their differences without forcing them into a mold (normal society) that they just don't fit into.
One of the side affects of this page for me has been learning about autism from a autistic point of view.
If you are interested in acceptance rather than dogged pursuit of a cure, or you have tired of said pursuit, go to the Jim Sinclair home page link ot the bottom of my very long page:-)
Regardless of the outcome I feel very Blessed to have David in my life and I don't know that I would change it (his autism) if I could.
There is a new treatment called secretin that is having great success.
It is a hormone that was initally used as part of the diagnosis process for gastro-intestinal disorders. seveal years ago a woman on the east coast took her autistic son to the doctor because he was having stomach problems (i.e. constant runs) After the treatment her son began to talk.
Understandably she was curious as to what had caused his sudden improvement.
She and the dr. went thru and found that the secretin was the only possibility.
They gave the child more secretin and his improvment continued.
Then, because it was an off-label use of the drug the doctor refused to administer it anymore.
the woman then started a grass roots campaign to get fda approval for the use of the drug in the treatment of autism.
As of this posting, Secretin is in it's testing phase and the results are impressive
50-70% of children treated have shown remarkable improvement.
We are hoping to get David into one of the study groups.
If you know of any clinical secretin trials looking for test subjects
Please E-mail to davidrich7@aol.com
David is currently living in Nipomo Ca. He has started to show improvement in several areas. He recently learned to ride a tricycle. He has developed ways to communicate such as pulling us to whatever it is he wants. He is still in diapers and requires constant supervision. He recently said his brothers name in a proper context. This is a major development as it is the first word he has uttered since he was 14 months old. He started school in March and seems to enjoy it a lot. His teachers are very impressed with his progress.
Davids favorite things:
Ears. He has a great affinity for ears he likes to hold mine or his mothers ear as he drinks his bottle. If we are not availible the dog's ear will do nicely.
He is very funny about food. For one he seems to like it better if it has hit the floor first! His favorite foods are:oranges,chips of any kind,sliced lunch meat,bread (not together though),waffles,anything with tomato sauce and noodles.
This is not suprising as glutin(the base ingredient in flour)Is suspected as one of the causes of autism. Studies have shown that autistics have elevated levels of glutin more often or not. We try to keep him away from it but then he doesn't eat at all.
The teletubbies,barney,blues clues and sesame street. He gets very excited whenever these are on the t.v and will watch them for hours.
The water. Ant time David sees water he has to play in it. Which means we have to keep him out of the bathroom unsupervised. :-)
We recently purchased a magnadoodle for him and he just loves it.
I suggest that if you have a autistic child that you get one. Hopefully your child if he is like David at all will spend more time writing on it instead of the walls,furniture,pets,parents ect.
David loves to color but is not real picky about the pallettes he choses for his art. he seems to favor important documents and furniture.
He is a very affectionate child which is unusual among children with his condition. Many autistics are completely withdrawn ,often ignoring their parents and siblings all together.
If you are a parent of an autisitic child, or are just curious here are some links for you.
I will add more links soon; Check back often. I will also be posting a list of suggested reading for parents or anyone who has an autistic in their life.
Autism picture page (very cool. a must see!)
I am a 34 year old roofer from Oxnard Ca. David is my son. He has changed my outlook on developmental disorders and the mentally disabled forever. I hope this page is of some use to you if there is a autistic in your life.
I am very interested in any suggestions for the page you may have.
Please reply to:
Davidrich7@aol.com or Exasperated77@yahoo.com
I apologize for the length of this page, but I am new to web design. I also suffer from excessive typing syndrome τΏτ
And.................Thanks for coming!
