In the last couple of posts I have shared about Naomi seeing a specialist in Florida, and the fact that we are giving her different things right now. So I figured it was time to formally introduce you guys to Dr. Rossignol.
First, a little bit of a background of why we'd go all the way to Florida for a doctor for Naomi in the first place. Especially since here in Cleveland we have some great neurologists and one of the best schools in the country for autism. See, there are 2 camps in autism. The traditional camp that says that autism isn't treatable. It is strictly a neurological issue that you can only do intensive behavioral therapy, such as ABA, in order to help individuals diagnosed with it. The prognosis for children are that the sooner you start ABA, in particular before the age of five, the higher percentage you have of your child improving significantly if not to the point of being completely typical. At best you get a 50/50 chance of improvement, with no one being able to tell you what your child's future can look like, until it comes to pass. One of the great mysteries with autism is how inconsistent and different it is with each child.
Then there is the newer camp that says that yes, it is a neurological disorder, yes ABA is the foundational way to treat it. BUT, there are also a lot of other things going on in the bodies of the children with autism. So many have stomach issues, different autoimmune disorders, low levels of different vitamins and minerals and supplements. A lot of them their body's ability to cleanse itself out of toxins doesn't work like a normal person's would. And so this camp, mostly known as the Defeat Autism Now! organization, say that if we can treat all the other biomedical issues these children are dealing with, we find that they start to learn more from the behavioral therapy, and improve more and faster than if we do nothing at all. And for whatever reason, which really I think is sad, these to camps don't get along very well.
So back to how we found Dr. Dan...or rather, how God led us to him!! From the very beginning of our journey I jumped in reading and researching as much as I could. I knew that I would have to be VERY proactive in getting Naomi help. I couldn't sit around and wait for Drs to tell me what to do next, I'd have to do my own research, educate myself, and fight on Naomi's behalf. Right off the bat, when researching even before Naomi's official diagnosis I saw the riff between the traditional camp and the DAN camp. Since every article I can remember painted any Dr and/or parent associated with biomedical treatments in a VERY negative light, I recall right away having some negative misconceptions about them and thinking we wouldn't be going down that road with Naomi. But I also kept coming across a lot of information about the gluten free/casein free (GFCF) diet. Which even this most of the people on the conservative side don't agree with. Then, one of the first books I read, the mom was very pro using bio medial interventions for her son. And it was very informative book, where she really broke down what to look for, what exams to ask to have done and what supplements and such to try. This mom had been a missionary with Navigators and saw her son's autism the same as we did. Simply that it was something God had allowed to happen to them, and if so then He'd carry them through it and blessings would come from all of it. I was confident that she wasn't simply some desperate, bitter parent that didn't want to accept the cards dealt them. I still wasn't ready to go down that road, though at this point I remember putting on the back of my mind as something I'd look into further once we were more 'settled' in this new journey. We did decide to start the GFCF diet with her because she had a LOT of symptoms that made her seem as the perfect candidate for whom the diet would make a difference. And sure enough it did. It wasn't a miraculous 'my child is now perfect' kind of change. But significant enough that we decided to keep with it.
Fast forward to Oct when we were more settled, some of the bigger decisions behind us with Naomi. I kept reading through this whole time and several books kept saying you have to go to a conference or two a year. I looked up conferences and one was coming up within a month. Jerod and I thought it'd be a good idea for me to go. Both for information to educate myself to continue our fight for Naomi, as well for encouragement for myself. The books also kept talking about the connections you make with other parents that know exactly what you are going through, and since I had been struggling with discouragement and loneliness already, it seemed like a win/win. The conference I had found was called the National Autism Conference. I hadn't really noticed anything connecting it with DAN, since I really didn't want to go to one of those yet, if ever!!
But, when I got there after the first meeting or two I realized that is exactly what I had gotten myself into!! But from the first night, when we had a social mingle, I could see God working already. He directed me to a table of 3 lovely women that would become my conference pals and great encouragers for the days to come!! Then the next night I met Dr. Rossignol. He was doing a Q&A session with some parents that he had been working with their little boy for a year and saw some AWESOME improvements. Just before the talk started he came over to our table to find a place to eat dinner. In spite of trying to scarf down his food and get ready for his talk he was very polite to us and kept answering several questions we had for him. I remember thinking as the parents shared a video about their son and spoke about the diff issues they dealt with each day prior to his treatment beginning how much like Naomi he seemed!! Then as Dr Dan shared about the medical issues behind some of the behavior and how they were treating it I remember thinking that Naomi had a lot of those same symptoms. The little boy had been doing ABA for almost 2 yrs when the video had first been shot, then to see the video of him currently, and the progress he made in less than a years time was amazing to say the least. And very encouraging to me!! I went up afterwards and was one of the 100+ parent that had some questions for Dr Rossignol in regards to Naomi. And I remember just this sense that I could trust this guy, he wasn't a quack, and he relaly knew his stuff. He wasn't simply grabbing in the dark for random things to try with no rhyme or reason. He was very knowledgeable on what was going on in the bodies of these children and diff ways to treat the issues. For the first time during the conference my guard and skepticism about all things biomedical and DAN related went down.
Then the next morning Dr. Dan won over my trust in him completely. At the beggining of his 'official' talk. He shared about himself some, what got him on this path.
Cute isn't it?? Wasn't my idea though, Dr. Dan shared this book with us at his presentation at the conference. He shared how ever since he was a little boy, he knew he wanted to be a doctor!!
Dr. Rossignol had been a regular family doctor for many years. What caused him to cross over to the 'dark' side filled with criticism and nay sayers that is the bio medical treatments of autism was that his two boys, the only 2 children he has, were diagnosed with autism. Being in the medical field gave him access to do research and dig deeper into this new world he had found himself in, one that he wasn't given very many answers in the first place by the experts at the time. But what really let me know Dr. Dan was the doctor I could trust with our precious baby girl was when in the beginning of his presentation, in a room filled with some of the his leading peers, and parents who are too hurt, disappointed, and/or bitter to trust even God, he shared about his faith. I have never seen anyone do that before. I knew that took guts...or rather a very strong and authentic faith. Again as he shared I was impressed with how knowledgeable he was, the research he had done to get to the conclusions he arrived at! It was nothing like the picture I had painted of these doctors based on the stuff I had read about them. Then again, at the very end of his presentation, he shared about his faith, that he was confident one day he'd see his boys and other children better from these ailments, either here or in heaven, because of his belief in Jesus! I was shocked...and impressed that he had been that blunt! Then he really got me. I went up to ask him something again, since in this talk he had gone into much more detail on the biological issues and such, and I had another question about Naomi. I remember saying to him that I couldn't remember exactly what his answer had been the night before about a particular issue with Naomi, but I had another question, and he cut me off, and rattled off exactly what I had asked and told him the night before about Naomi and what his answer had been that night. This REALLY impressed me, because he had talked to at least 100 parents that night, and another 20 or so that morning before I got to him, and for him to remember that specifically what I had talked to him about my little girl, I was really really impressed. And decided at that moment that I would be taking her to see him as soon as possible.
See, when I took the time to not just stay on the outside criticizing what was going on in the biomedical world of autism, but actually went into it for myself (and not even with an open mind!!) I learned that, surprise surprise, the media was wrong!! These doctors, at least none of the ones I came across at the conference, aren't quacks looking to take advantage of scared, lost parents looking for a miracle!! Most of them are very passionate parents themselves, who simply decided to carve out their own path for their kids, instead of accepting the status quo. They weren't driven into this field by the $$ they thought they could exploit out of desperate parents, but rather by the love they have for their own autistic children and the desire to find better answers for them!! So, if you are a fellow parent who wants to unlock the mysteries of autism for your child, and you haven't been sure if you should venture into the biomedical stuff and you have been skeptical, I don't blame you. But I would also tell you to do your research. Perhaps attend a conference, or speak to a parent that you know has a DAN doctor. Instead of criticizing from outside of the doors, based on information that you get from a third party, come on in and see for yourself!! Don't allow someone else to make your opinion for you!! I know that myself, and another of the moms I met at the conference are glad that we did!! Turns out that it isn't as 'dark' as we thought to be in the DAN world....rather, we see some new lights being turned on!
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