Live Your Yoga

In Feb. of 2008, Joy and Rodney’s 3 year old son Dominic got the flu with the rest of the family. Shortly thereafter, he started regressing, and eventually lost almost all of his speech. After nearly a year of doctor appointments, speech therapy, occupational therapy, CT, MRI, hearing scans… a local pediatric neurologist said to them, “This is Autistic Regression Syndrome, and we’re seeing it in a lot in young children after viruses. The only thing you can do is ABA [Applied Behavior Analysis] therapy”. Knowing that their insurance specifically excluded ABA therapy (and, in fact, any therapy related to the diagnosis of Autism), they asked the doctor to make the formal diagnosis Aphasia in the hopes of getting some treatment covered by insurance. This spring they found Alpine Autism Center, a local Colorado Springs ABA therapy center, and made the decision to put all they had in savings towards getting Dominic the therapy (at $2300/mo for half days), with the prayer to Spirit that should Dominic need additional therapy beyond what they could afford that the money come for what he needs. Joy and Rodney are also pursuing alternative biomedical treatment for Dominic that has helped him greatly. It is expected that Dominic will need ABA therapy for at least another year, and as of the end of July it does not appear that insurance will be covering any of it. So Joy and Rodney are continuing the ask Spirit for the money to be made available, and part of doing that is providing a way for people to give. Should insurance cover any, excess will be donated directly to Alpine Autism Center’s operating fund (they are a 501,c,3 non profit and are doing amazing things for the children that no one else seems to be able to help). To learn about Dominic’s journey, and how you can help, please visit their family blog.