update

My boy talks now.

After pulling him nearly 2 years ago from a completely inappropriate program in the public schools, setting up a homeschool program for him and most notably chelating him for lead and then mercury, my boy has gone from non-verbal to echolaic to finally expressive talking.

Don't get me wrong, we are a long way yet from recovery. He still has some stereotypic behavior. He still has a couple very minor stims. (And truthfully I don't give a flying rat's ass if he stims for the rest of his life. I stim, you stim, we all stim. Why should I make him stop?) He still has trouble with redirection, and he gets into a loop where he continues to try to do something even after you tell him no. And his vocabulary is very limited.

But my boy is talking now...

When he doesn't get his was with mean old dad, now he hollers "Mo-o-o-o-om!" When someone stubs their toe he will rush over and ask "are you alright?". When he wants something that I won't let him have he says "YES!" Hell, when he has a Lego or Lincoln Log structure collapse because of poor construction he says "goddammit!" (We will work on that when the time is right...)

My boy is talking now!

At least as important as what we did (and possibly more so) is what we DIDN'T do. We didn't blindly trust our schools to know what they were doing, and pulled him at the first sign they were driving blind. We didn't listen when first our pediatrician and then later the behavioral specialists told us he would never talk, and instead pushed for chelation to reduce his lead and mercury. We didn't let negative experiences related to us by defeated parents of older auties dissuade us from searching for answers and trying therapies with him.

And most importantly, we didn't give up on him.

Never give up on your child! There is always hope if you can look long enough and are willing to work with him/her. We aren't done yet. We have a long row left to hoe. But we will make it, because we have to.

My boy is talking now.