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I also thought that my child’s illness was incurable. Here is our recovery story. It was 2008. First child, pregnancy, and childbirth without complications. The development of my son was according to plan, despite the fact that he was a large boy, he sat at 5 months and took his first steps before he was a year old. This was a normal, living child who reacted to those around him, and his name, and made active attempts to speak his first words.
Like many people, they suspected something was wrong after the vaccination when Mark was a year and a half old. He lost almost all his skills and words, there weren’t many of them, but still.
When he was about 2 years old, we moved to live in another country. What is left of the child’s vocabulary is mom, dad, and that’s it. There was eye contact, he had difficulty understanding spoken speech and stubbornly did not speak, hyperactivity and hysterics were also present. At first, we chalked it up to a change in country, language environment, two-year crisis, etc. But it all took a long time.
I felt depressed due to helplessness. We began to contact speech therapists and teachers to help us get the child talking. Being in another country, it was difficult to figure out who to turn to for help. We started searching on the Internet for information on how long this child’s condition could last. Having read everything and everywhere, we ourselves diagnosed our son with autism. Based on this, we rushed to look for a solution how to get him out of this state. And on one of the forums, there was a mention of the professor. Having searched for information on how and where to get a consultation, a few days later we had an appointment with Vagif Mamedovich. Let me remind you that this was 2012, Mark at that time was 4.2. We were able to stay for treatment right away. At that moment, I only felt relief from the thought that our child would be helped. My husband was abroad, and he did not interfere with our staying for treatment.
On the first day of treatment, I was shocked by the method of treatment and the way of communication with parents during meetings (group therapy) and was skeptical about everything that was happening. But when on the second day, the child walked calmly with me by the hand and looked around, as if he had woken up and noticed the world around him. On the 7th or 8th day, he asked to try red caviar. Previously, he had no problems with food, but he refused to try anything new. I started eating pears and strawberries, before that I only had bananas and apples.
And, like many people, the results came after returning home. He became calmer, and more attentive, the tantrums for no reason stopped, there was an adequate reaction to refusal, and not rocking on the floor and screaming throughout the house.
We arrived at the second stage three months later (September/October 2012), it was another more in-depth comprehensive method according to the professor’s program. From the second day (2nd stage), he was in the ward for treatment, I was asked to go out into the corridor, and he lay there, without a squeak. The second stage gave a huge leap in development. He began to distinguish between right and left, and where the hand and foot were. I deceived him a little, saying that there was a puddle ahead that he needed to jump over.
Changes in speech began even after the first stage, a little, but still. While walking around the territory we learned a couple of children’s poems. I put various objects in his hands, helped him with a description of this object, what it looked like, what figure it resembled, and the like.
Because of the decision made to stay and live abroad, we did not even complete the first course; we only completed 2 stages. According to the treatment program, one course consists of four stages.
In kindergarten, he was a little behind his peers, in addition there was a language barrier, and the time was approaching to go to secondary school. We also considered the option of sending him to a school with integrated classes. But everything happened as it should have, we took a year off from school. During this year, classes with a speech therapist and teacher were added. He went to secondary school at the age of 7.5 y.o.
I can’t even imagine what would have happened to the child if we had not turned to the professor, most likely a special school.
At the moment, Mark is 15, graduated from school, entered the Technical School. Marie Skłodowska-Curie, an electrician by profession, speaks Polish and Russian, in addition to English and German according to the school curriculum. One thing that still bothers us is that sometimes he wants to say something quickly and mixes languages and changes the endings of words.
I believe that the child is 100% healthy.
When Mark’s condition became stable, and my psychological state stabilized accordingly, we started thinking about expanding our family.
In 2015, the second child was born, there is a 7.5 y.o difference between the children. The second son was like a little parrot, he repeated everything after Mark. Started speaking in sentences before the age of two. In 2.5, when asked what color it is, he named the colors even in English. To this day he is very inquisitive about why.
My husband and I had a desire to have a girl, but as fate would have it, Evan was born in 2019.
Now later, that and Mark as a carbon copy.
He developed and grew up as a normal, living child, climbed, sat, walked, everything according to schedule. Well, the ill-fated vaccinations were also on schedule. Why didn’t I refuse vaccinations? Yes, because the second child is normal, there are no problems.
Well, after such a routine vaccination, the child died out. Over time, stims appeared, he spun very much in place, first standing, and after two years sitting on his butt. Aggression, irritability, hysterics appeared I had trouble falling asleep and for a very long time.
During one of the visits to the pediatrician, she noticed the child’s abnormal behavior and advised him to see a psychologist (he was not yet two years old). At 2.3 we had a visit to a child psychologist and immediately received a diagnosis of childhood autism. Considering that it was 2021 and apparently still a pandemic period, we were diagnosed almost in absentia; we were not present at the commission. We were not prescribed any treatment; the only thing the psychiatrist suggested to us was to give us omega. And thank God that we were not prescribed any treatment. So we ended up with a diagnosis and a disability group in our hands.
We waited for the special group to take their place in the kindergarten and at 3.1 we went to the kindergarten. For the first two months, I wrote a description of the child’s difficult behavior almost every day. In our kindergarten, this is a mandatory practice, because due to difficult behavior and aggression towards others, the management has the right to terminate the contract with the parents. But the time of adaptation has passed and Evan has gotten used to the regime, he and I even have our own route 😊 be sure to stop at the bakery on the way and buy some gingerbread. Last year he simply carried this gingerbread and held it in his hands, but now he even manages to eat it before we get there. Over the course of a year, the kindergarten has had its advantages: first of all, it organized the child and showed that he also began to eat on his own. But there were also negative habits that replaced one another (spitting, undressing).
Why they didn’t immediately turn to the professor for help, I can’t imagine. For the first months, I was simply in a state of abstraction. And then the war started and it was scary to go to Ukraine. So we lost precious time.
And so in September 2023, we passed the first stage. Evan was 4.2. We came up with:
There were only a couple of positive aspects, we had no problems with sleep and we have been friends with the toilet since we were 2 years old.
After the first three days of treatment, it was already clear that he became calmer and more often began to respond to my commands, bring, serve, etc. He is enjoying public transport now. And I began to be able to convey to him that we needed to get to a certain stop, and not to the first closest one, to get on the bus that we needed, and not the one that he wanted, but before it was a shout across the entire street. There were also hysterics, but we managed to calm him down faster and distract his attention than before. Around day 10, I noticed that he responded to his name even when strangers called him. My grandmother was with us, and she also began to notice positive changes.
In the sensory room, he learned to spin pedals and show interest in other children on the playground. Every other time, when asked yes or no, she began to wave her head accordingly. A conscious pointing gesture appeared.
I was surprised when he sat near the window on the train for about 40 minutes, watched what was happening outside the window, and reacted to the change in the picture in front of him.
After returning home, Evan resumed going to the garden; he goes to a special group. In kindergarten, teachers noted his perseverance in classes and calmer behavior. There are more sounds and emotions during games.
Started playing with our middle son. Previously, Evan completely ignored him, and because of his loud reactions and screams, the middle one also did not very often show a desire to play with him. Today, Evan points out who is who in the family if you ask him. The atmosphere between the brothers is improving.
A month after returning, Evan began repeating (imitating) sounds and actions.
Tries to repeat some words. I can go shopping with him without hysterics. By the 7th day of treatment, he lies down during the procedures without my help. Every day, some little things, but the little things add up to the result.
Having already had some experience, I am confident that my youngest son will be healthy as I can already see the result.
I will say for myself that after the first stage with my youngest, I received a fresh breath of air, which helped me mobilize, rethink the whole situation, and see the future of a healthy child for my son.
Everything is in our hands and hard work.
Many thanks to Vagif Mamedovich, who gives an impetus to the development of our children and a magical foam for parents.