"Hunter's Story"

     We are writing this to share our story regarding the services we have been able to secure over the years for our son, Hunter, who has Autism. He attended a Special Day Class in an elementary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, after being diagnosed with autism at age 3 ½ as the result of testing by the school district. At that age he was a very sweet and very silent little boy who displayed extraordinary abilities. He learned the alphabet from Sesame Street, and then proceeded to memorize the words he saw on the screen. He could spell an amazing number of words using his magnetic letters on the floor. He had a special love of baseball videos, and could spell the names of all the Dodgers (both Brooklyn and L.A.), complete with batting averages! However, he could hardly speak, and could not tolerate many sounds that most people consider normal, along with many forms of touch. Haircuts were torture, and he had no way of telling us other than to scream.
     Hunter was enrolled in a Special Education Pre-School Program, and our journey on the maze of "services" began. Over the years, we have made it our business to learn everything we could about autism, and about the services available (although not readily available without a fight), to children like Hunter. The school district has always been, and continues to be, reluctant (to put it mildly!) to pay for "extra" services. The services Hunter has received have all been services that we brought to the attention of the school district! We retained an attorney who has acted as our advocate. We have been through mediation and arbitration with the school system over an educational therapist (who turned out to be Hunter's own "Annie Sullivan" by giving him language). Ironically, the school district was responsible for our legal fees when the attorney had to be called in to fight for us! We fought for speech and occupational therapies, both school and clinic based, and won! We had even secured funding from the school district for Fast Forward, a computer-based language program, and for Auditory Integration Training, now referred to as Digital Auditory Aerobics, along with his current Non-Public School placement!
     Our advice to parents is simple. Don't take "NO" for an answer! Find out what services are available, and tell the school system that it is your child's right to have reasonable and appropriate accommodations, which are guaranteed by Federal Law! Be persistent and do everything you can to insure your child is not left behind!
     We had an IEP meeting, during which time we presented information about Digital Auditory Aerobics, explaining the potential this treatment had for improving our son's life. Of course, we were told "NO". We made daily phone calls to district employees whose job it was to approve services like this. We called so much, we were on a first name basis with many of these people, and they knew we weren't going away. Finally, they approved the funding of this service.
     What we remember most is Hunter's first birthday after receiving Digital Auditory Aerobics. Birthdays in our house were nightmares! Hunter would spend the day under the dining room table with his fingers in his ears, crying and trying to bite anyone who approached him. The singing of "Happy Birthday", people's voices, blowing sounds, and the glowing of the candles, caused him what seemed to be actual physical pain, due to the auditory and sensory overload.
     During his first birthday after treatment, he came out of his room, sat at the table, and said, "So, are you going to sing to me now?" "And where are my presents?" My wife and I looked at each other, brought out the cake, lit the candles, and sang to our son. He blew out the candles, and took his piece of cake, and presents to his room, as his parents cried tears of joy over the most wonderful birthday party they ever attended!

     For additional stories like Hunter's, please visit w.georgianainstitute.org to order the books, The Sound of a Miracle, and Dancing in the Rain, along with an informational video explaining Digital Auditory Aerobics.