World Autism Awareness Day: Kayden's Story

Kayden after a round of vaccines in 2008

I will never forget October 1, 2008. That is the day that I sat watching Autism X6 on the Discovery Health Channel with my jaw on the floor and a lump in my throat. The Kirton family have six kids who are all on the autism spectrum, and through each child’s eyes I saw a piece of my own son. It was then that I realized that Kayden had autism.

Kayden was born November 16, 2006 weighing 7 pounds 3 ounces, 21 inches long, and very healthy. After a few days at home, we realized that he wasn’t able to hold down much formula without projectile vomiting with just about every bottle. After many trials with different formulas, and many walls and floors cleaned up, we finally found that lactose-free formula was best for him. After many sleepless nights and much research, I came to the conclusion that he had reflux. As with many other things, his doctor disagreed, telling me that was just “normal” infant spitting up. While on the lactose-free formula, he was able to hold down just about all of the formula while sitting upright, but that wasn’t the case when he lay on his stomach or back. So he slept in an infant glider chair for the first six months of his life.

As the months went on, I was able to feed him a bit of rice cereal in addition to the formula, and it seemed as he was able to hold down more. With the transition to pureed vegetables and fruit and a gluten-free diet his reflux became next to nothing. We thought that he was on the road to complete recovery! At one year we started a successful slow transition from lactose-free formula to lactose-free milk and then regular milk. All seemed to go well with the transition, and he quickly became known in the house as our “little trash compactor” because he ate anything and everything!

Even through all of his digestion problems, he remained such an easygoing, happy baby, and most people who didn’t know him would never know that he had these issues because he was always laughing and smiling. He also hit all his infant milestones at the right ages, and was walking within two weeks of turning one and starting to speak. Life seemed to be great . . . That is until just after he turned a year and a half.

His 18-month well-child visit was on May 21, 2008. This video was taken the day before that visit, where he received the MMR, varicella, and hepatitis A vaccines all at once. You can see in this video how engaged he was.

It was the beginning of the summer (about mid-June) that I started seeing changes in my thriving little guy. It started with him banging his head on the bars of his crib, as well as rocking and bouncing so hard that it would shake the house. Then slowly his speech diminished to nothing, and he became “distant” — as if in his own little world, not even aware of what was going on around him or responding to anyone who called his name. When he got excited about things he would flap his hands and screech. He refused all but a handful of foods, lost all speech, and had awful bouts of watery diarrhea. He would also get overwhelmed very easily and have what I call “a total meltdown.” None of the above were ever traits he possessed prior to that doctor visit.

I started getting concerned, but was holding out hope that it was just “a stage” he was going through, like his doctor claimed, and it would just go away and I’d have my happy little guy again. Well it never did. This video was taken three months after his well-child visit.

In September, I saw previews for a documentary that would air on October 1st about a family who had six kids on the autism spectrum, and while I didn’t really understand what autism was all about I remember thinking “bless those parents and those children, I just couldn’t imagine what they are going through.” Well I didn’t have to imagine anymore once I sat down to watch that Discovery Health special. I knew then that I too had a child on the spectrum.

Obviously, I was interested in learning more about autism and whether Kayden really had it. After many sleepless nights with my new best friend, Google, it became pretty clear to me that my assumption was correct. I don’t recall which website I hit first because, since then, I think I’ve viewed every site on autism in detail. But of course there was a piece of me that didn’t want to believe it. What parent wants to believe that their child has any disorder? But the thought that “it’s just a stage he’s going through” had been smashed into tiny pieces. Then it was time to break it to my husband that I thought our precious little man had autism. It’s one thing for one parent to discover it, but another altogether to convince your spouse, as the stages of denial that you have been going through will be mirrored by your spouse, compounding your stress by a hundred-fold. And yes he did go through it the same as I had, but after a bit of educating on the disorder, he agreed: Kayden had autism.

We both quickly went into treatment mode, just aching for information on how we could get our son better. On October 18th, I found an intensive ABA therapy program for Kayden (five days a week, three hours at a time) through the May Institute, and Kayden started on December 8, 2008. This therapy was a blessing from above because Kayden made HUGE strides and progress, and we slowly started getting our son back.

Shortly after, I had Kayden evaluated at the National Autism Center and got his diagnosis: mild to moderate classic autism. While I already knew he had autism, getting the official diagnosis brought a fresh wave of emotion. I’m just SO very grateful to have followed my heart and my mother’s instinct and found him therapy and all the services he deserves. Since 2008, he has done many various therapies besides ABA. Just to name a few: early intervention , occupational therapy, feeding program, the Wilbarger Brushing Program, Therapeutic Listening Program, ASL toddler group, speech therapy, hippotherapy, and yoga for the special child.

Just to see how much he progressed in a short time after starting to heal him, this video was taken just before the two-year mark after his regression. Kayden was three and a half, and it was three months after he started school. That was when his speech really started to return. Then we started homeopathy, and within weeks he started to speak in sentences. His gut started to heal, and the diarrhea tapered off. He started eating again, and six months later he was potty trained!

Today, Kayden is in second grade, in a developmentally delayed classroom. He is able to read books, write sentences, and, while still delayed, his speech is very close to that of a typical 8-year-old. He is very animated, and loves WWE and books.

He’s a true joy in our life, and not one day has gone by where autism has held him back in any way. He’s so strong and bright that I just know someday he will make a difference in this world. And, in the meantime, I make it my mission to provide him with all the resources he needs and deserves.