Friday, September 28, 2007 Te: Hope for autism in Iloilo By Jeanne Tan Te
IT'S been four years since my son was diagnosed with autism. We’ve been through different therapies ever since. I enrolled him in a special school at one time. We’ve had occupational therapy, speech therapy, inclusion, GFCF diet, biomeds, ABA and listening therapy. Now that I think about it, I am surprised that it’s only been four years with all the things that we’ve been doing.
When we first started I thought that I will forever be tied down to cater to my son’s needs, never get enough sleep or never have any life outside my son’s therapies, until we got into the Gluten-free Casein-free diet. Among other things, my son became more calm, focused, and less irritable. The diet also improved my son’s sensitive bowel movement. It practically made all the other interventions workable.
I first learned about GFCF two years ago through internet research. At that time, I was also able to download videos and information from the Autism Research Institute website stating that “autism can be cured.”
And so for the next six months, I tried the dietary intervention on my son without knowing anyone else within the country that was also into it - until I finally found autismpinoy.
Autismpinoy is an internet support group for Filipino parents who have kids or relatives in the autism spectrum. The owner of the website and e-group is a Filipina named Awit Dalusong who now works as a practitioner for the Rob Reiner’s Autism Model School in California.
Since then, I have come to know fellow Filipino parents from different parts of the world, who have gone through the same dilemma as I had, and are trying to help each other out through advices, updates about the latest interventions and sharing materials.
The last time I talked about the GFCF diet and biomedical intervention with another parent in Iloilo was about a year ago. I pointed her to the various web links that would help her understand the whole thing better. I asked her to join autismpinoy as well.
Sadly, when I last checked in May this year, nobody else based in Iloilo has registered in the group.
I sure hope that the situation has changed the next time I log on to the group. I mean, Cebu parents are very lucky to have proactive parents led by the very accommodating lady named Babylin Roa.
They have had auditory therapy, a talk with a DAN doctor from Singapore, an HBOT (Hyperbolic Oxygen Therapy) Center, and a whole lot of things going.
If I’m not mistaken, Babylin is a co-owner of the first biomedical laboratory-clinic recently opened in Manila.
As for Iloilo, I really haven’t heard of any “revolutionary” treatments or seminars being implemented here. The only ABA seminar that I have attended here was on Discrete Trial Training sponsored by the SPED graduate office of the University of San Agustin.
It was attended by several SPED teachers and students. There were some parents. And yet, I haven’t heard of any school in town practicing DTT. The teachers in my son’s school aren’t even familiar with the Verbal Behavior approach, or Pivotal Response Training and the likes. No offense to the Austism Society of the Philippines-Iloilo Chapter but I don’t think I have really heard that much from the organization either.
I am so hoping that my article today will serve as a call to Iloilo-based parents, educators, and organizations to really take the extra mile in updating our local services and resources. We can start by educating ourselves. There is so much information on autism in the internet. You can start with www.autismpinoy.com. From there, it would lead you to very reliable links.
The upcoming national conference of the Autism Society of the Philippines in November will have US doctors as speakers on the biomedical approach. I’d like to hope that our Iloilo Chapter will be able to conduct an echo-seminar for those parents who can’t afford the airfare and seminar fee.
I’m also hoping that our local government will be able to provide free services in the form of therapies, parent and caregiver seminars and SPED teacher conventions. I know, I am only hoping. But I will continue to do so because hope is where my son, Jay, and I started four years ago.
When Jay couldn’t even say his own name or sleep earlier than two in the morning or when it was so impossible to even imagine that he can go to any regular school. And yet, we were able to make all of these things possible. (Email: brain_faery@yahoo.com)
