April/May
So, I think there were many factors that stacked up against Stephen’s ability to tolerate the current
schedule of vaccines, chemicals in our environment, and genetic alterations in some of our foods.
JAMA Study referenced above: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23938610
Joyce: Did you take him to a Western health care provider?
Kathleen: In those early months, I repeatedly questioned some of Stephen’s symptoms and
behaviors with his pediatrician and was quick ly dismissed. Intuitively, I knew that he should not have so
much gas, and that he should be showing interest in toys and even starting to attempt crawling. Over
and over, they said, some kids do these things late, just wait. Since motherhood was a new role for me,
I second guessed my own intuition and trusted that the pediatrician knew better than me. Of course, the
truth is – Mother knows best.
Joyce: What did they say the first time they examined him?
Kathleen: Some of the early concerns were about Stephen’s low weight. I was told to supplement my
breast milk with formula because Stephen was not gaining weight as quickly as his pediatrician wanted.
This was certainly related to Stephen’s
poor ability to latch properly. Fortunately,
I was determined to make breastfeeding
work and I stayed committed to
breastfeeding without supplementing
with formula. Years later we learned from
his speech pathologist that this early
decision may have been one of the biggest
contributing factors to his ability to improve
speech because of the way the tongue is
used for nursing and Stephen had apraxia
of the mouth (which means he could not lift
his tongue for proper speech).
At Stephen’s 18-month checkup, I
raised my concerns again around his
lack of language. His pediatrician said,
“It’s still too early to worry, if he is still not
talking by age 2, come back.” Interestingly
a colleague of mine mentioned early
intervention for her son who was
developmentally delayed and from that one
conversation I immediately sought services
for Stephen and notified his pediatrician of
my decision. This was the beginning of my
role as Stephen’s advocate.
2015
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