Imagine this, one morning you and your family wake up on a warm Saturday morning in July and decide to pack the kids in the car and go for a drive. You decide to take the kids to a special event at Cabelas. You get to Cablelas and you and the family go inside to look around the store. Your kids admire the large aquarium and the huge animal displays. You then take the kids outside to take part in a special event that Cabelas is doing where the kids can fish in a small pond and win prizes. You and the family decide you have had enough fun and decide to go out for lunch. After lunch you decide to start heading home. Your journey home takes you down a road that is somewhat secluded which makes it nice for a calming drive. But that is not what life has in store for you. As you are diving your wife turns to look at the kids to find your 3 year old son having a Grand Mal Seizure. You quickly look in the rear view mirror to see for yourself and can not believe your eyes. Your son is convulsing, bleeding from the mouth and not breathing. Your heart stops. Your life is now playing in slow motion you quickly pull the car over. You pull your car over and quickly pull your son out of his car seat, his little body is still seizing, and you are in the middle of no where. A passer by sees you and pulls over to offer help, they call 911. The seizing finally stops, the whole thing feels like it lasted days but really only a minute of two passes. The ambulance arrives and they whisk your wife and son off to the closest hospital. You then follow them with your 4 year old daughter who has just witness a life threatening seizure happen to her brother. She is now left with that memory as are you.

The story I just told is not fiction, this is Brandon’s story. This event happened to Brandon 2 years ago. His sister still remembers the seizure and I do too. A day does not go by that I do not see the seizure in my head. It haunts me when I am awake and when I am asleep. This event confirmed that Brandon did indeed have Epilepsy and would need to go back on to anti-seizure medication which he is still on.

With November being Epilepsy awareness month I ask you to help Brandon and kids like him and support Brandon by purchasing a 2010 Calendar for a Cause. Or by sharing his story with your friend and family.

Once Brandon was home from the hospital he needed to have several types of therapies done at the house to help him recover from the damage that the seizures caused him. Brandon was delayed on many levels, speech, motor skills both fine and gross motor skills, at one time I think we were up to three therapist coming to the house sometimes twice a week for an hour each visit. As his therapist began to work with Brandon they began to notice that he exhibited may traits of an Autistic child. So we had Brandon tested to find out that Brandon did indeed have Autism. He was diagnosed with Autism at the age of 2 1/2. I thank God that we had the therapists that we did at the time because thanks to them we were able to address his Autism early and get Brandon more help. I can not help but wonder what his Autism would look like today if his therapists did not see the signs of Autism in Brandon.

Early intervention is the key to helping children with Autism, I feel that it is because of our great therapist that Brandon is where he is today. Which is a 5 year old boy who is able to attend kindergartner with some help. Brandon still battles Autism on a daily basis but his battle could have been much worse.

Part Three: Third Piece, Brandon scares us beyond measure.

Many people ask me to tell our story of how we came to know that Brandon was diagnosed with Autism. So I thought I would do a series of posts to tell you more about the story of Brandon.

On March 14th 2004 a beautiful baby boy, Brandon was born to two very proud parents. He was premature but he was perfectly healthy. Brandon left the hospital and went home. A few weeks went by, when we began to notice something not normal with Brandon. He would stiffen up, his eyes would go back and to the left, and he would stare for about 20 seconds. This went on for a couple days and we asked our doctor and were told it sounds like Acid Reflux. Of course when the doctor saw Brandon, the symptoms were not present. Brandon was put on medication and sent home. Brandon continued to exhibit these symptoms so we took Brandon to the hospital. Many test were done including a spinal tap which is extremely painful and nothing was found. We were at a local Lehigh Valley hospitial for 2-3 days. The hospital then told us it was time to go since they could find nothing wrong with Brandon and our insurance would not cover any more expenses. We then took on the financial responsibility and kept Brandon in the hosipital. 1-2 days later a nurse witnessed what we saw and then our lives changed forever.

Brandon was transported via ambulance to the childens hospital in Philly. The ride from the Lehigh Valley only took 35 minutes, a drive that normally takes 90 minutes. What we found out was Brandon was having bad seizures and they needed to stop them. The seizures while we were there got worse and much longer. He was having seizures that lasted well over a minute. As we watched our son having multiple seizures all we could think of is what is causing this and how can we make it stop. I was 29 at the time and have had my share of painful things happen to me but by far watching Brandon seize caused me more pain than I could bear and I know Dee feels the same way. And I can still say to this day I have not experienced a pain that was worse than that pain. The doctors were doing all that they could to stop the seizures and they finally did, after several days of different treatment. The doctors there continued to run many tests to try to find what caused these seizure but they could not find any answers after being at the childrens hospital for close to a month.

Meanwhile while all these tests were happening Dee and I stayed at the Ronald McDonald house and were extremely thankful for the accommodations. We would travel home to get clothes and to visit with our daughter. Thankfully my parents were able to watch Emma while we attended to Brandon’s needs. Brandon was finally released with no diagnosis, they narrowed it down to 2 things Bacteria Meningitis or Epilepsy. So after spending over a quarter of a million dollars, we left the hospital with medication for the seizures that Brandon had to take daily, no answers and lots and lots of medical bills.

Part Two: Second Piece, Brandon therapist notice something about his development

It is great to see as more and more people become aware about Autism how business are responding to meet their needs. Whether it be getting a haircut or watching a movie at the theater both are not easy for an Autistic child to process but businesses are helping. Read this story from ABC news it shows how businesses are helping.

A possible treatment for Autism that is encouraging. A drug company called Curemark is start clinical trails fo a new mediation that may help some children battle and maybe even defeat Autism only time will tell but it is nice to see companies trying. To read more click here.

Parents of autistic children often align themselves with one of two categories: those who believe that genes cause the disorder, and those who are convinced that environmental factors are to blame. And then there are people who are not sure, which is where I stand. I truly believe there is not enough research on either side to point to a reason. Which is why we need more research on the causes no matter what they are. With Autism rates skyrocketing we need answer yesterday. Please read this article on some recent genetic theories.

And just think this study is two years old. The graph is helpful to show visually just how much Autism is on the rise. We need to find out what is cause Autism and fix it. Today!

A 10-year-old boy is being hailed as a hero. He says he used what he learned in Cub Scouts to save his teacher’s life. Teaching kids with autism real life skills can save a life. You can use videos, picture books or hands-on methods to show them CPR, Heimlich maneuver, calling 911 and other vital emergency reactions.

Over ten days ago Bringsmejoy.combroke a story that the government is trying to down play. The new Autism stats are now official. About 1 in 100 8-year-old children in the U.S. have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers who will be releasing details of their study later this year. Which translates for boys to about a 1 in 60 8 year old boys in the U.S. have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. US Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius declares Autism, “An urgent public health challenge”. As a parent with a son with Autism it does not seem like this is urgent in the eys of the goverment. The new stats were released last Friday on October 2nd. The government likes to release bad news on Friday when they know are attention is on the weekend. This practice is called taking out the trash. Please read the following story CDC survey finds higher incidence of autism — chicagotribune.com

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