About Babies

From Despair to Hope:
 Our family’s journey with an autistic child, Part 3
By Sheri Hunt

Haidyn

The previous two months, I introduced my family to you and you got to know Haidyn a little bit better.  I'll journey further now into our walk  with our precious little guy from despair over autism toward hope for his recovery.

I know that God is going to heal Haidyn and I prayed that God would show me how to help him. Even with our deep belief that God hears our prayers, there were moments of feeling desperate and alone. Our sweet little Haidyn, who had loved to sing and give everyone kisses, was now struggling just to say words. It was stressful to take Haidyn out to eat or to a friends house because his noises were loud and his temper tantrums were out of control. The agency we contacted to evaluate Haidyn labeled him developmentally delayed. With that evaluation came their recommendation, “Enroll him into a pre-school program that deals specifically with children who are developmentally delayed”. We met with the school's principal, speech therapist, occupational therapist and a teacher. They shared with us their plans for helping Haidyn and we toured the school and his classroom. My husband and I discussed their plans and suggestions and felt it wasn’t best for Haidyn. We wanted more options for him. I decided to talk with  our pediatrician. Our pediatrician scheduled an appointment for us to see a Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrician at All Children’s Hospital.

I loved my job working for a Doctor of Naturopathy, Jim, who was also a friend of ours. We shared many wonderful conversations on health and what God’s Word has to say about healthy living. While the other Doctors and agencies were giving us advice, he encouraged us not to accept the label of autism for Haidyn, but to accept that he had autistic tendencies.  He suggested a group of folks he became familiar with, the "International Christian Association of NeuroDevelopmentalists".  After looking through their web site I became very excited about having another option for Haidyn.  The site was full of articles and testimonies from families working with them. It was hard to pick the article to read first.  I was intrigued with one entitled, “Train Them Up”. It was about having a special needs child and that we as parents need to unconditionally love, discipline, and most importantly, teach them about Jesus. That article changed my expectations for Haidyn.  Finally, there was hope.

With all the excitement, I almost forgot about our appointment with the Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrician at All Children’s Hospital. The pediatrician watched Haidyn as he played with toys and then left the room to watch him interact with us through a two way mirror. She came back into the room after about an hour and offered her conclusion. She gently informed us that Haidyn was severely autistic. She recommended a speech evaluation, occupational evaluation and to place him into a pre-kindergarten program. I couldn’t wait to get out of her office. I knew that Haidyn had autism, but to hear her say that he was severely autistic just broke my heart. I cried on the trip back home. I started to think that his autism was my fault. How could I let this happen? I’m a terrible mom. I began to cry out to God and asked Him to rescue me from my thoughts. Since God is such a good and gracious God, he placed Psalms 139 on my heart. God reminded me He was the creator and He knew what is best for Haidyn. That gave me peace that surpasses all understanding.

Next month our journey continues.

Sheri and Larry Hunt with their boys, Haidyn and Dyson